It took a long time of thinking, but, I personally, give being held back a grade won't help anything.
If they don't understand something: They don't need to repeat it, they need to be guided in the right direction. That's was teachers jobs are.

I also think being moved up a grade might put pressure on some students and make them feel like they have more responsibility than needed at their age.

I also think it's embarrassing to be separated from your friends and hard to make new friends in one two young/old for you.

I agree! I would hate to be in a class with a lower class when I rightly deserve to be with my friends. And it's not just a friend thing. My math professer told me that it's not always the child. They might get it but are just not good at it. A regular middle school focuses on the test scores (around where I live) and even though they do good on homework, the lack the need to study for test. Thus failing them (sometimes). How will they grow mature with a lower class? They could but I believe it would be difficult.

I agree with what you said on being held back, but sometimes I child is intelligent enough that they won't be learning anything in the class they're in. Skipping a grade or being put in advanced classes could be a great opportunity, but teachers do need to teach well and schools should be more aware of a child's intelligence when placing them in classes.

It's not something I take a stand on. If I had to choose, I would say for. Mostly, because I see kids who just get "passed along" and by the time they reach my classroom, they're still reading and doing math at a first grade level, because teachers just expect them to "get it." Which complicates things for me, because I have to take into account his level while simultaneously trying to move the other twenty-four students along and prepare them for fifth grade.

Don't get me wrong, though - differentiated instruction is a common occurrence in every classroom, and adaptations are made for students of varying skill levels, skill sets, attributes, languages and disabilities. So it's not like this is something new to me, as a teacher. But inevitably, it's the student who suffers. Because that student is, more often than not, not receiving the targeted instruction he needs, unless he has an Individualized Education Plan. And even if he does have an IEP, if he's far enough behind, he probably gets pulled out for most of general ed instruction, which can be isolating for him, as he does not get to interact as much with his gen ed peers.

I have a student right now in my 3rd/4th split classroom, who is written as a fourth grade student but she entered school early, and is at the appropriate age for third grade. Her work is also third grade level, and even though on paper it says "fourth," we give her third grade level work. She attends third grade math, and is expected to meet third grade level expectations. There's talk about officially having her be written as a third grade student, and move into a different fourth grade classroom next year.

Similarly, we have a fourth grade student in our classroom who is third-grade aged, but she flourishes as a fourth grader, and even goes to fifth grade math. The other day, I caught her reading John Milton. She confessed, she can only understand one poem, but she is so proud of it.

As for moving up, we just had a parent teacher conference concerning another student in our class, whom I'm going to call Angela. We suggested that, if they felt comfortable, Angela could skip fourth grade next year and go directly to fifth grade. Her mother was primarily concerned with two things: First, that she wouldn't fit in socially with the other fifth graders. Even though Angela is in class with fourth graders, most of her friends are in the third grade. She gets along with the current fourth grade students, but she is not particularly close with any of them. The second concern Angela's mother had was how this would affect Angela's chances of getting into a private high school, and if it would actually hurt her chances. A tertiary concern was that Angela would go to college at seventeen, a whole year earlier than normal, and that would be one less year her mother would have with her.

Inevitably, Angela's mother shared with us that she and her husband were leaning towards keeping Angela in fourth grade SPECTRUM (the program for students at a more advanced place in their learning for their grade level). Angela will probably stay in a gen ed fourth grade class next year, with differentiation to keep her challenged, and going to fifth grade math.

My point in all of this is, it really depends on a case-by-case basis what both parents and teachers feel is best for the child socially, emotionally, mentally and academically. But skipping and holding back grades are generally last-resort/last-chance methods in order to help a student advance academically. There are dozens of other options that teachers and schools employ to keep kids challenged and learning, like the SPECTRUM program, IEPs, and paraprofessionals like ELL and SPED teachers that float in the gen ed class to help struggling students.

I don't really know enough about this. We don't hold kids back/let them skip years in Britain, so I've never really thought about it. :/ Personally, I wouldn't like to be held back/skipped forward, but I don't know enough facts about it.

Children aren't only held back because they don't understand the work. I was in a Catholic school for four years, and then moved to a public school where I was placed in fourth grade again. It helped me a lot - the school I was in previously was a year behind the school I'd been moved to. I know for a fact that it can help.

I believe it would be the same with allowing a child to skip a grade.

However, I also agree with what Cinder's said: it depends on the child. Some children need repetition to learn - I need to keep repeating Math to learn it. Some children don't. Some children would do better with the mental and emotional challenge of skipping a whole grade, some children wouldn't. But that decision (which shouldn't be taken lightly) should be talked through with teachers, parents, and other relevant staff members.

I'm indifferent on the subject with the children being held back.

For skipping a grade I might say I'm for it,because it encourages the child to take on new challenges,however It should be optional..and I believe it is,because on the other hand it might put the child under too much pressure!,As for a child being held back,I don't like the idea of it at all,usually I'd think it's because of the teacher mainly because it's the teachers job to teach children,it could have been the child didn't understand the teachers' teaching method or maybe the child asked to transfer out of the class (earlier in the year)<-trying to make up a possible scenario here for a reason & the school wouldn't do it,things like that Should NOT,be put upon the child,it should have been put upon the school and/or teacher like I said before It's the Teachers job to teach and it's ALSO their job to know if EACH and EVERY ONE of their students understands the curriculum and lesson!,and I kind of think it's unfair in some cases because well then THAT PERSON would finish school LATER than they normally would,and I don't think that's fair at all. but if it's that the child's just Slacking and NOT living up to their potential than instead of holding the child back a grade they should try a change of scenery and see if it works and really I find the Holding a child back a grade really ineffective.

i was supposed 2 skip 1st grade. so was my twin. but we didnt want to. now i wish i would have :(

I chose this option, though I disagree with how the thesis is phrased: it's not a question of "learning again", but learning at all.

The current system of teaching kids organized by age grouping is ridiculously inappropriate to how almost everyone learns. For example, is every 10-year-old the same in linguistic facility, creativity, athletic ability, musical performance, spatial reasoning, or logical deduction? No, no more than every 10-year-old has the same hair, eye, or skin color. Each child is going to thrive in some areas and find others less easy (at least at first). Teaching them all at the same rate and same level is no more valid than standardized testing.

Unfortunately, the system is designed with this assembly-line mentality towards a child's education (usually by high school in the US, kids have some choices, based on aptitude and ability, but this is rare if not non-existent in grade school), so what mechanisms are there to correct for a given child's differences? Ignoring home schooling for the moment - assuming that the child will stay at the same school - the mechanisms are tutoring and changing grade levels/classes.

It is a very real problem that this assembly-line approach to a child's education leads to the mindset that being "held back" (even the language suggests a negative lack of motion) is a bad thing. The important thing is that the student learns, not that he/she learns at a preset rate. For some, this may be faster in some areas, and for some it may be slower in others. That shouldn't be a problem, and it shouldn't have a stigma associated with it.

im kinda in between on this. my friend is almost 16 and shes in 8th grade, she failed 2nd and 8th grade. Lets just say she aint the sharpest tool in the shed

I agree with harold, who said it much better then I could have done.

it happened to me (I wasn't ready cognitively to move up) and it ONLY helped me. I'm grateful, VERY GRATEFUL, to the people who decided to hold me back the grades they did. I was born very sick and spent the first 2 years of my life in hospital, the doctor said i'd be somewhat regressed during childhood (i'd catch up but it would take me longer) since being in the hospital lying in a steel crib covered in plastic didn't allow me to wander around and explore my world. and I was behind the rest of the kids my age growing up; considerably....but now my brain is caught up and i'm doing better than alot of those kids who were "at the right stage".

I'm torn on this. I think kids shoulden't be put in a grade ahead of their peers. My mom skiped the second grade, & though smart enough, she found herself way over her head both work and maturaty wize. I don't belive in putting kids a year ahead. I think it's asking too much of a kid, especially a child 6th grade & under.

I don't think holding them back is right either. It's humiliating, they'll be seperated from their friends, & also, will having the same stuff again really help? Not likley. I think they should do something else to catch the child up. Not hold them back.

I have been both an accelerated student and a remidal student. Accelerated in English and Literature and remidal in the maths.

A lot of people like to argue that getting held back or taking a remidal makes a student feel stupid. Speaking from experience while yes it is discouraging I was actually glad to get it in a sense. I knew putting myself at a regular math course would be counter productive because I'd only sit there more confused than ever and I welcome the idea of catching up rather than getting into something way to hard and then flunking out of the class. I'd rather catch up than get into something that's too hard and fall even more behind. People also argue that it's humiliating; perhaps this depends on the person or what grade you are repeating. I was upset, yes, when I found out I was behind but I wasn't embarrassed. You have strengths and weaknesses it's part of life. And the people in my remidal class were all kids who needed help with math so it gave me a change to meet people with the same problem I had (lol crappy math joke). And in college, mine anyhow, you have kids of all ages in your class anyways so...
And on another note, to some degree it's less embarrassing as I wasn't teased for guessing the wrong answer in front of the class because a good number of them also didn't know the answer and I didn't have people looking at me like I was an idiot for answering 'the easiest question in the math world' wrong. In fact when I was in grade school I knew I was behind, I was struggling and I was begging to be put in a slower placed class. I was ignored and my math skill only suffered more because they were going to fast for me.

On the other hand; I was so glad to be put in advanced English. I remember being in the standard course and I wasn't learning anything because I already knew what they were teaching. I remember finishing the assigned reading about a month before most of my classmates. I asked my teacher for something to work on as I waited, she'd give me one or two which I would finish promptly and then she'd tell me to just take a free period. It was great fun at first, but after day 3... School is for learning, not sitting around. On top of that I was teased for it and people would constantly cheat off my tests. I was so glad to be put in honors courses as the teasing and the cheating stopped and I was actually learning new things and I wasn't like 10 chapters ahead of the class. It was a challenge and I like it.

Accelerated and extra help classes don't define a person's smarts. One can be a genius on one subject and need help in others. They aren't aiming to make you feel stupid or to separate you they aim to improve your learning environment and balance your education. If you need a slower paced class that's simply what you need. If you need the pace picked up you have that opportunity as well. Don't think of them as classes for the 'smart' and the 'stupid' think about it this way; the schools are letting you pick your math course (per say) you have three options (and everyone is offered all 3); a slower paced class, an intermediate course, and a fast paced course. Wouldn't you be happy that you are able to pick a class more suitable to your skill level.

As another note, reading some of the above comments, much like myself I noticed that a lot of us who were put in remidal classes or were held back have expressed gratitude and where glad we were put there. Most of us stated that we never felt 'dumb' or 'stupid'.