Is "overage student" the new politically-correct educational buzzword? Well, it must be in NYC, where they're using the term a lot; almost half of all ninth-graders are "overage," meaning they're older than 14 and most likely have repeated at least one grade:
Students are getting old in the ninth grade - 5,569 students are already 17 years of age or older, according to shocking new statistics released by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. These students - 5 percent of all ninth-graders last year - are three years "overage" for that grade. The typical entering high school freshman is 14 years old.
In all, 47 percent of ninth-graders - nearly half the class - were at least one year over age. In most cases, these students were held back once, twice or three times...
More than one-quarter of the city's 1 million schoolkids - 277,647 students - are overage. Nearly one in 10 students is overage in the first grade, and 15 percent in the second grade. By third grade, nearly one in five students is overage; by sixth grade, it's one in four.
Hence the new retention policy for third-graders. Some of the problem can apparently be explained by students who are recent immigrants and move up the educational ladder more slowly. But when 5% of your ninth-graders are going to be voting if their birthdays occur before November this year, there's a problem.
Posted by kswygert at March 19, 2004 11:26 PM