School officials wonder if promoting students late in the year is helpful to their academic success, even if they prove they know FCAT material.
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK
Published November 10, 2003
SPRING HILL - Terri Clark sped to the local YMCA to find her daughter, Samantha, as soon as she learned the news.
Nine weeks into the school year - after much test-taking and extra schoolwork - the second-time third-grader had convinced administrators at Pine Grove Elementary School that she could now read like a fourth-grader.
"She came into the Y and shouted, "You went to fourth (grade)!' " 9-year-old Samantha recalled, a huge smile crossing her face. "I was happy and excited."
That's a far cry from last spring, when Samantha became one of about 33,000 Florida third-graders denied promotion because they failed the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Samantha attended a summer reading camp in hopes of moving to the fourth grade but scored too low on yet another test.
Built into the system, though, was one more chance for advancement. But it posed a dilemma: Should a student be promoted this late in the school year, even if she can prove she has mastered the skill that held her back?
The last thing you want to do, educators say, is set up a child for more failure.
"It is asking an awful lot of the students," said Mark Brunner, the elementary education coordinator in Citrus County.
School officials in Citrus and Hillsborough counties decided against promoting any third-graders held back last year. Pasco schools promoted four, and Hernando schools advanced a dozen. Pinellas schools, meanwhile, moved up about 50 kids.
In every case, the standards for promotion were stringent and the assessments many. Students had to demonstrate that they could read well enough to pass the third-grade FCAT. They also had to show they could meet the demands of fourth grade.
"We didn't want to send anyone on who is going to struggle," said Maria Lindquist, the supervisor of elementary reading and language arts in Pinellas schools. "The bottom line is, we want these students to be successful."
That desire usually translated into a decision to leave a student where they were.
"If we had kids that we felt were close to being above the 50th percentile on the test, we would have looked at that," said Chuck Johnson, principal of Westside Elementary School in Hernando County. "But we had none that were even close. The kids that were retained needed to be retained."
From time to time, though, a youngster showed enough ability and spark to get a principal's nod.
"If they can demonstrate that they have made enough progress ... why should we keep them a year back, away from their age-appropriate peers?" asked Susan Rine, the administrative assistant for elementary schools in Pasco County.
Jim Watts, vice president for state services with the Southern Regional Education Board, lauded Florida for providing third-graders with additional opportunities for promotion. Though tests are an indicator of success or failure, they are not the only one, he said.
Other tests and reviews of student classwork, Watts said, "are legitimate and fair things to do."
But he warned against problems that could turn what he termed a "good move" into false hope. Schools must continue to pay close attention to the children who were so close to the edge, Watts said.
And they can't misuse the privilege.
"I have seen in other states where old habits persist, where students are promoted when they are not ready," Watts said. "The question is, what is right for the child?"
Terri Clark, the Spring Hill mom, said she worked hard to make sure her daughter was prepared for promotion. She bought practice materials to use at home, got her a tutor two days a week and pressured Samantha's principal and teachers to get her to work.
"I'd rather have 100 kids of those parents than one who doesn't care," Pine Grove Elementary principal Dave Dannemiller said. "It was mom who worked with the child extensively."
The persistence paid off in an A grade in reading, a completed portfolio and a pass to fourth grade. Dannemiller said he was willing to consider Samantha's plea, in part because she missed passing an alternative test by just one point.
"That really tugged at me," he said.
Samantha acknowledged she is now having a "hard time" on some of her fourth grade reading assignments. But she pledged to do what it takes to keep moving ahead.
"She's a very hard worker," her mom said, while watching her daughter review a chapter in a book about planets. "I'm just hoping that what I've done, which I don't think I've done much except fight for my child, maybe somebody will see this and do the same for their child. Nobody should have to go through this."
Clark offered some unkind words about the FCAT and the pressures it creates on students. Then, she high-fived her daughter.
"I beat the system. I beat the FCAT, and I'm very proud of it," Clark said.
