Social promotion is back in Houston:
After years of toughening standards for the promotion of ninth graders, the Houston Independent School District reversed course on Thursday, saying high school students who failed core subjects could now go on to the next grade, provided they had sufficient credits from other courses.
In a unanimous vote, the board gave preliminary approval to a proposal from the Houston schools superintendent, Kaye Stripling, to restore the district's former policy of promoting students based on the number of credits they had accumulated...
Under the policy approved Thursday, students in the Houston Independent School District must still pass the core subjects — including algebra, geometry, biology and English — but may do so at any time before graduation.
Allegedly, this is to keep kids from getting discouraged and dropping out. But what happens to the 16-year-old who keeps getting promoted but cannot graduate after his senior year because he hasn't passed algebra? Is this a proposal to keep students from getting discouraged, or is it a plan to keep them enmeshed in a system that never provides the education that they need?
(To the Devoted Reader who alerted me of this - I forgot to forward your email so I could thank you by name. I'll rectify this tonight.)
Posted by kswygert at April 9, 2004 10:31 AM