@McWilliams701 Scenario #1
“Whew!! We finally made it. High school graduation. Your student doesn’t even need to take a placement test because of his GPA.” Fast-forward 4 months…First Semester in College-Academic Probation. Professors’ comments include statements such as, “lacks basic foundation” and “understanding of basic conventions are absent.”
Scenario #2
“I’ve been trying to help for years but making change in the store is still a problem for the twins.”
These scenarios are snippets from conversations that I have had with parents in regular and special education. Their sentiments can be overlayed in 2000, 2010, or 2020. It leads me to the question, “What does a high school diploma from the State of Maryland by way of PGCPS really mean?
Historically, schools have been known to push children along to maintain acceptable data. Passing a failing student to the next grade in an average schoolyear is deplorable. Shouldn’t a full year of disrupted learning been a clarion call to suspend any promotion to the next grade for any student that is underperforming? This is CRIMINAL!! It’s time to stop blaming the pandemic for all learning loss or lack of achievement. This situation has been in existence for decades. It is a slap in the face to 2021 graduates to simply kick them out and tell them to hope for the best. Unless students have an exceptional drive and were already high-achievers, and/or have full-time parental support, the transition from high school is a major recruitment for “Dis-engaged University.”
In reference to ESSER Funds, the current students will receive some trickle-down services to address gaps. What happens to students who are no longer enrolled? There is no statute of limitations on ineffectiveness. It follows a student for years and may never be overcome. In addition to the funds that are delivered to the school systems in 2021, all students that have left the PGCPS school system during the pandemic due to dropping-out or graduation should be eligible for tutoring, tuition assistance, vocational training, mentoring, etc.
“Whew!! We finally made it. High school graduation. Your student doesn’t even need to take a placement test because of his GPA.” Fast-forward 4 months…First Semester in College-Academic Probation. Professors’ comments include statements such as, “lacks basic foundation” and “understanding of basic conventions are absent.”
Scenario #2
“I’ve been trying to help for years but making change in the store is still a problem for the twins.”
These scenarios are snippets from conversations that I have had with parents in regular and special education. Their sentiments can be overlayed in 2000, 2010, or 2020. It leads me to the question, “What does a high school diploma from the State of Maryland by way of PGCPS really mean?
Historically, schools have been known to push children along to maintain acceptable data. Passing a failing student to the next grade in an average schoolyear is deplorable. Shouldn’t a full year of disrupted learning been a clarion call to suspend any promotion to the next grade for any student that is underperforming? This is CRIMINAL!! It’s time to stop blaming the pandemic for all learning loss or lack of achievement. This situation has been in existence for decades. It is a slap in the face to 2021 graduates to simply kick them out and tell them to hope for the best. Unless students have an exceptional drive and were already high-achievers, and/or have full-time parental support, the transition from high school is a major recruitment for “Dis-engaged University.”
In reference to ESSER Funds, the current students will receive some trickle-down services to address gaps. What happens to students who are no longer enrolled? There is no statute of limitations on ineffectiveness. It follows a student for years and may never be overcome. In addition to the funds that are delivered to the school systems in 2021, all students that have left the PGCPS school system during the pandemic due to dropping-out or graduation should be eligible for tutoring, tuition assistance, vocational training, mentoring, etc.