¶ … Social Promotion on Young Students With Learning Disabilities
Public school systems in the United States have been damaged by policies adopted by the Department of Education in recent years. For instance, "The No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB) has been responsible for moving the school system away from allowing teachers to teach (and by extension allowing children to learn and possibly discover their hidden talents, gifts, and greatest potentials). The No Child Left Behind Act has been in effect since 2001 and what it has instituted is a teach-for-the-test mentality, as so many schools are dependent upon funding that is tied to testing performance rather than to quality of education. In addition, teachers are held accountable when students do not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) in terms of meeting grade proficiency levels. Students who are not promoted may be psychologically/emotionally damaged as a result. This study intends to scientifically investigate this situational factor by using a qualitative methodology with a case study design. The case study aims to examine how Special Education teachers react to the ramifications of their decisions to hold a student back a grade. It also, by way of extension, investigates the possible long-term results of social promotion policies. The rationale behind this study is that a focus on the challenges and negative impact of such policies is needed, as such policies impact both teachers and students -- and the goal is that through this focus, researchers can create a transformation technique that will inspire teachers to re-evaluate their teaching practice. This study is based in the assessment that "the more teachers know about the cultural backgrounds of students and how differences in values, beliefs, language, and behavioral expectations can influence student behavior, including interpersonal dynamics, the better they will be able to facilitate effective teaching -- learning interactions in their classrooms" (APA, n.d.).
Problem...
That problem, specifically, is that the policy does not allow teachers to teach or to help students to discover their hidden talents, gifts and potential -- instead it obliges teachers to "teach for the test," a concept which totally undermines the purpose of education. Currently, nothing is being done to solve the problems of policies like No Child Left Behind (NCLB). However, the problem is continued by the fact that school retention and social promotion are factors that oblige teachers to be held accountable for students who cannot pass their State-approved exams. This problem impacts both teachers and students because each is impacted psychologically by the decision to hold a student back a grade/year because of a failure to "pass the tests" deemed essential by the State. There are many possible factors contributing to this problem, among which are a failure of the Department of Education to understand the nature of education in a classical sense, the failure of the State to appreciate the subtle ways in which teachers engage students and what students need, in reality, from teachers, and a failure of academic research to provide qualitative assessment of the relationship between students and teachers in the era of NCLB. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge needed to address this problem by providing a qualitative assessment of this relationship and filling the gap in literature on this subject.
Purpose Statement / Significance
The purpose of this qualitative case study is to focus on the challenges and negative impact the policy of the Department of Education has on both teachers and students, and to help to create a transformational technique that will inspire teachers to re-evaluate their teaching practice. This study is significant because it highlights the problem on a psycho-social level and shows what the Department of Education needs to consider in order to address this issue.
Background…
