Barely failing kids repeating grades under mayor's promotion policies

Posted by Philissa at 11:17 AM

After spending much of last week thinking at gifted and talented programs, I thought it was time to turn my attention to kids for whom academic achievement doesn't come so easily. The Daily News helped this weekend by taking an on-the-ground look at the new 8th grade promotion policy. Although the policies in grades 3, 5, and 7 are supposed to protect against this, sometimes kids in those grades pass all of their classes and one of the state tests but just can't pass the other, the article says. "I'm getting left back for one subject," says a second-year 7th grader in the article. "I was doing my homework and stuff. I just didn't get math." Will the safeguards in the 8th grade promotion policy be enough to prevent students from being held over unnecessarily — or for the third time?