Chicago’s strict promotional policy failed to help students who were left back – but the rest of the city’s kids did better on exams, according to studies released yesterday.
The mixed results on Chicago’s attempt to end social promotion provides cautionary lessons to Mayor Bloomberg as he implements his controversial policy to hold back third-graders who score poorly on high-stakes reading and math exams.
Beginning in 1996, Chicago based its promotional decisions largely on results of standardized tests for third-, sixth- and eighth-graders.
The reports, prepared by University of Chicago researchers who tracked grade repeaters from 1997 through 2000, found:
* Third-graders who were not promoted showed a “small boost” in test scores the year after they were held back. But they were no better off two years later than struggling students who were promoted.
* Sixth-graders who were held back scored 6 percent lower two years later than low-achieving classmates who were promoted.
* Nearly 20 percent of the students who repeated a grade were reassigned to special-education classes.
* Kids who repeated eighth grade were 8 percent more likely to drop out by age 17 and 13 percent more likely to quit by age 19.
* A majority of the students held back twice or more were likely to drop out.
* But the overall yearly high-school dropout rate actually declined 4 percentage points over four years. That’s because the 90 percent of the students who were never left back stayed in school.
That’s possibly because, with the threat of being left back hanging over their heads, they spent more time preparing for their classes.
Melissa Roderick, a co-author of the analysis, argued that tougher promotional policies should be dramatically altered or scrapped, with more funds set aside to help students read in the earlier grades.
New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said, “The Chicago study strongly supports our view that effective early-grade interventions are key to ending social promotion and preparing students for the hard work they will encounter in later grades.”
Pluses and minuses
How Chicago’s social-promotion policy stacks up:
Pros
* The percentage of students meeting standards in reading jumped from 26% in 1995 to 41% last year; in math, it rose from 29% to 48%.
* The annual dropout rate fell from 17% in 1995 to 13% in 2003.
Cons
* Thousands of students forced to repeat third grade did no better.
* Eighth-graders held back were 13% more likely to drop out by age 19.
* Nearly one in five students who repeated a grade were reassigned to special-education programs.
Sources: University of Chicago Schools Consortium, Chicago Board of Education