Nov 29, 2007 11:46 am US/Central
Only 1 In 5 Repeat 5th Grade After Failing TAKS
AUSTIN (AP) ―
New state data on student retentions show that only about one in five fifth-graders who fail the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills repeat the grade, even though it is required under the state program to curb social promotion.
State law says those students should pass math and reading portions of the TAKS to move to the next grade. But most are being promoted under the law's waiver provision, in which the student can be promoted if the teacher, parents and principal agree, a local newspaper reported Thursday.
Last year, nearly 45 percent of third-graders who failed the TAKS were retained -- compared with just 20 percent of fifth-graders, according to the newspaper.
Overall, 5 percent of Texas students were held back for the 2006-07 school year based on grades and test scores in the spring of 2006.
Highest retention rates in the elementary grades were 6.4 percent in first grade. The highest rate in secondary grades was 16.5 percent in ninth grade.
The retention rate was 2.9 percent in third grade and 2.7 percent in fifth grade.
In their report "Grade-Level Retention in Texas Public Schools," state education agency researchers noted the relatively low percentage of fifth-graders who had to repeat the grade after failing the TAKS. Students were given three chances to pass.
Debbie Ratcliffe of the Texas Education Agency said the numbers probably reflect a reluctance in many school districts to retain fifth-graders because of their unique social situation. Most elementary schools in Texas cover kindergarten through fifth grade.
"If you retain a fifth-grader, he is not just failing his grade, but he is also being left behind in his elementary school by his classmates, who are moving on to middle school," she said. "In the third grade, the student is still attending the same school as his or her friends."
Attention has been focused on third- and fifth-graders because they are the only students who have been required to pass the TAKS to gain promotion under a 1999 law passed by the Legislature to curtail social promotion, the practice of automatically advancing students regardless of their achievement.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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