What happens when a fourth-grade schoolkid in Louisiana fails the LEAP exam? Why, they repeat the fourth grade - and then leap directly into sixth grade. How does this differ from simply being promoted into fifth grade after failing the exam? And how does it benefit those kids?
It doesn't:
According to an analysis released Tuesday, students who skipped the fifth grade scored at the 15th percentile in reading, the 24th in language and the 16th in math. The highest possible score is the 99th percentile. By contrast, students who were moved to the fifth grade after repeating fourth scored higher on the fifth-grade Iowa test: 24th percentile in reading, 31st in language and 23rd in math.
A proposed new rule states that students who fail LEAP and repeat the fourth grade then go into fifth grade, which makes much more sense. The scores are still pretty abysmal for those kids who repeated the fourth grade, though, which suggests that the "accelerated learning" in place in the repeated fourth grade (aka "4.5") isn't working too well.
Posted by kswygert at June 18, 2003 12:28 PM