Teaching Strategies That Have Been Proven Successful - ebookschoice.com

With school districts' increased dedication to raising academic standards
and abolishing social promotion, tremendous pressure has been placed on
teachers and students to raise standardized test scores. While this may appear
admirable from afar, its practical and real-life implications are not often as
glowing. In fact, the push toward higher standards often leads to tracking,
ability grouping, and grade retention-all of which have inherent problems. Tracking,
grouping, and retention are widely practiced in the United States and in many
other countries, and they are founded on both theory and research. Tracking,
most often practiced in secondary schools, groups students into courses or
sequences of courses of various levels of difficulty suited to their levels of
achievement. Ability grouping, most often practiced in primary schools, assigns
students within classrooms to homogeneous groups of like ability. Grade
retention requires students who have not attained achievement standards to
repeat one or more grades. All three practices are based on the belief that
children of like abilities or levels of achievement can learn together more
efficiently than can heterogeneous students. Other theories and research suggest
that these practices may be inefficient and unwise. Some argue, for example,
that students retained in grade may suffer declining self-concept which may
deter their progress so that they are less likely to catch up with grade level
standards. This is due, in part, to the fact that, by itself, grade retention
does not address the causes of academic failure. Others counter that, to the
contrary, such students would eventually fall further behind and drop out
whether or not they were retained. To "socially promote" ill-prepared
students would depreciate the value of the high school diplomas of those who
meet rigorous standards. Similarly, some argue that it is more efficient to
teach subjects such as mathematics when
students share similar abilities. For example, it would seem difficult for
consumer mathematics and calculus to be learned efficiently in one group.
Still, it may be argued that faster learning students may benefit from helping
slower-learning students. Schools might also provide more classroom time and
intensified instructional services to at-risk students for remediation or to
prevent them from falling behind in the first place.

Retention

While there is no magical cure for
the ails of retention, alternatives must be examined before it's too late-that
is, before a student is about to be retained. By studying the experiences of
successful students and making findings available to practitioners, researchers
can help teachers focus on using teaching strategies that have been proven
successful. The following recommendations could also be helpful.

• Encourage preschool enrollment in
order to reduce retention rates.

• Require full-day kindergarten.

• Provide remediation that is
proportional to children's academic needs without regard to whether they are
retained.

• Develop a strong advisor network
that will allow faculty to get to know the students.

• Maximize peer relationships
through cooperative learning and tutoring.

• Shift to interest-based learning
where high school students are exposed to career-based or project-based
education instead of the lecture and test-taking practices now used.

• Extend the academic calendar
either to year-round schooling or longer school days.

• Focus on retaining motivated and
qualified teachers.

• Hold teachers to expectations of
higher levels of curriculum and instruction.

Researchers' and practitioners'
voices aren't the only ones that should be heard. Parents must also become more
involved in helping their children avoid retention. Some ways to boost parent
involvement are:

• Develop "tip sheets"
that have helpful hints on how parents can get more involved in their child's
education.

• Develop parent education and
outreach programs.

• Don't wait until students are at
risk of failing; begin communication with parents at an early stage.

Grouping and Tracking

Why does neither retention,
grouping, nor tracking enhance the academic progress of most children?
Unfortunately, in many schools, grouping and tracking have led to stagnant and
generalized courses designed to meet minimum curriculum standards. In order for
true progress to be made, the intent, purpose, and design of grouped classes
must be examined and a high level of integrity maintained. The following
recommendations deserve further consideration.

• Consider multi-age classrooms as a
way to enrich children's learning and development.

• Prioritize collaborative efforts
among schools, employers, and higher
education in supporting academic excellence.

• Have goal conferences with
students. Integrate students' self-assessments into decisions on their
grouping.

• Provide stronger teacher and
principal preparation coursework that will address diversity in learning rates
and styles.

• Keep grouping flexible.

• Grouping should include high
expectations, rigorous curriculum, and equitable access to high-quality
instruction.

• Promote cultural awareness that
will help teachers meet the diverse needs of their students.

• Promote public awareness. Educate
the community on the best ways to group students.

• Hold administrators, teachers,
parents, and students accountable. All must work together to achieve the
optimum level of student success.

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