IKE-E/FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RETENTION

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IKE-E/F ACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RETENTION
FILE : IKE-E
FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN RETENTION
When considering whether a student at any level should be retained or promoted, the following factors should be considered by researching the following questions through the utilization of all available
resources.
A. Student Achievement
1. What is the student’s patten of achievement in relation to grade level and ability?
2. What has been the patten of academic achievement in the past? i.e. standardized
tests, grades, individual assessments.
3. What specific skills does the student lack that would hinder success at the next grade
level?
4. Are these identified leaning disabilities or special learning needs?
5. Has there been an individual assessment of the student’s achievement and ability?
6. How do parents feel about achievement and daily performance?
B. Academic Potential
l. Does this student possess the academic potential to benefit from retention?
2. What valid documentation of academic ability for school learning tasks is available?
3. What is the discrepancy between what the student does and what he should be able to
do?
4. Is there a difference in potential in the various curriculum areas?
5. How do the parents assess the student’s academic potential?
C. Attendance
1. Has the student’s pattern of attendance (excess absence from school) affected his/her
progress?
2. Has the student’s patten of attendance been consistent over his/her school years?
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D. Health
1. Have special health problems affected the student’s achievement? (Long or short term
illness)
2. Have vision, hearing and other physical characteristics been evaluated to determine
any underlying cause for the student’s status in school.
E. Maturity
1. Is the student’s social development compatible with age-mates at a lower level vs. his
peers at grade level?
2. Will the student’s future social development create problems?
3. Is the student able to accept responsibility for his/her actions, decisions, and school
requirements commensurate with his/her age group?
4. Have any of the following indicators of immaturity been observed?
A. A consistent cycle of the student having difficulty at the beginning of a school year followed by
increased success later in the year.
B. They don’t seem to relate to their peer group.
C. They play with students of a younger age.
D. A feeling that they have the ability, there’s just something about them that you can’t put your
finger on.
E. Parents feeling that had they known what they know now, they never would have started them in
kindergarten then.
F. Physical Size
1. Will a student’s physical size make him/her stand out among his/her classmates?
G. Age in Relation to Grade Placement
1. What is the student’s chronological age in relation to grade placement? Is there more
than two years difference?
2. Has the student been retained at a previous grade level? What difierence has it made?
H. Student Attitude
1. How does the student perceive retention?
2. What signs are there that the student is overly concemed about how his/her peers will
feel about him/her being retained?
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4.
. Does the student understand and accept the need for achievement of skills to advance
to other levels?
. How does the student feel about himself‘? Has this attitude been consistent
throughout school?
. Is there a. consistent pattern n the student’s relationship with teachers, i.e. personality
clashes, male vs. female authority figures, etc.?
. How is the student’s attitude about school different from his/her attitude about other
things?
. Parent Attitude Towards Retention
. Do parents fully understand the reasons retention is being considered?’
. Are the parents supportive of the need and potential benefits of an additional year at
a specified grade level?
. Are the parents openly hostile to retention?
. In what ways are the parents willing to be constructive and help make retention
a meaningful and successful experience?
. Out of School Influences
. How many changes of school (moves) has the student experienced? At what grade
levels?
. Will there be siblings in the same grade, class or school if a student is retained?
. Are there family pressures (death, divorce, abuse) that have affected the student’s
learning? Will these conditions change in the next school year?
How will peer pressure affect the student outside of school?
K. Program Options
1.
What kind of different program, at a particular grade Level, can we provide for this student to insure there will not be a repetition of the same materials and program elements the previous year if they repeat the grade?
. How will we address the specific skills deficiencies of this student to insure mastery
and readiness for the next level?
. What appropriate remedial programs are available at the next grade level?
Page 3 File: IKE-E
Adopted: 8/2/2007