Contemporary Issues: Should Struggling Students Repeat A Grade? Marlee Smiley Mckenna Hawkins

 Standard #3: Learning Environments- The teacher works with others to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self- motivation.  Description- This is a PowerPoint to show issues in schools that need to change. Holding back students based on their grades has a lot to do with the teaching style that teachers are forced to use.  Rationale- I chose to choose this standard because it talks about teachers creating a positive social and motivational environment for their students. I think that one of the biggest reasons students don’t do well in school is because they do not feel like they are being pushed enough. Students are really smart, and I think one of the biggest goals that teachers should have is showing those struggling students how intelligent they actually are. Also, teaching in a way that appeals to the students by having them do projects that appeal to their interests is one of the biggest ways that students will want to actually learn.

About  Tend to come from low socio-economic status families and ethnic and linguistic minority backgrounds.  Dropout rates in 1999: Hispanic- 25.3%, Black- 13.4%, White- 7.6%  No Child Left Behind Act

Pros  They get more attention  Review the material a second time  Kids who are younger than their peers can repeat a grade  Behavior issues and high stress

Cons  Being taught lower-level skills than what they actually should be learning  Are not being taught cognitive skills and critical thinking  Not being able to retain information as easily as when they were younger

Solutions  What you should not do: Compensatory Education  What you should do: Cognitive (Scenario-Based and Problem-Solving Approaches)  Make classes smaller that are filled with only a few struggling students. This way they are more comfortable and not afraid to ask questions.

Two Questions??  What would you do if you had a student who was not keeping up with grade level academic work? Would you hold them back? Explain.  If you had to change your teaching style to fit the needs of your kids, would you do it? What if your administrators told you that you have to stay with the traditional style, would you do it?

How can we make sure that our students are retaining all the information we give them?  Give them multiple practice exams  Instead of giving our opinion, ask the students to share their own opinions and answers  Have our students read literature books more than once so that they can learn something new after each time  Sit down one-on-one with them  Have them create a list of things they just learned and other things that they do not get. Have them ask questions?  Have a box that students can put questions in anonymously and then go over it the next morning

References  Johannessen, L. R. (2004). Helping "Struggling" Students Achieve Success. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(8),  Isbell, L. M., & Cote, N. G. (2009). Connecting with Struggling Students to Improve Performance in Large Classes. Teaching Of Psychology, 36(3),