Holding a child back is not easy for parents

Jack Fletcher, professor of developmental pediatrics at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, said that reading and comprehension skills are essential for students to learn other subjects. "Years back, schools stopped emphasizing reading as much," Fletcher said, "and now we're realizing that if children are not reading by grade level in third grade, they remain behind even in high school."

Melanie Pritchett, TEA associate commissioner for statewide initiatives, agreed that reading may not have been emphasized enough to current high schoolers. Recent test scores prove that. "Absolutely, a large part of the problem with high schools is reading comprehension," she said. "Part of it is also computational," referring to math and science scores, "but they can't read it and understand it enough to solve it."

For Brianne's parents, the decision to keep the 8-year-old in second grade this year was difficult but necessary. She struggled with reading last school year, and despite extra study and help from tutors, she still couldn't comprehend what she read.

District educators labeled Brianne a "struggling reader," which frustrated and depressed her, her parents said.

"We decided to retain her so her maturity level could catch up," her father said. "She's one of the youngest in her class now, so she won't be that far behind."

Her parents also said she had a better opportunity to grasp reading and comprehension skills if she stayed another year, instead of being thrust into the third grade, where a state test determines whether poor readers are held back.

Last year's third-graders were the first to fall under a new state rule that retains poor readers and ends social promotion. Statewide, about 96 percent of third-graders passed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills.

That leaves about 12,000 Texas children who are retaking the third grade this year.

In the Houston Independent School District, about 95.2 percent of 16,697 third-graders passed TAKS. HISD officials said they are still determining how many students have been held back. According to district numbers, 803 students failed the test in the three times they had to take it.

Those parents, however, can appeal to the district to promote their child. If promoted, those students would be considered fourth-graders but would receive more reading instruction.

Parents have their reasons not to retain a child. Most prevalent is the social stigma attached to "failing a grade," educators and researchers say, and parents do not want their child to be embarrassed.

"Some parents feel the social pressure of wanting their child moving on with their friends and not have their child's self-esteem hurt by feeling less smart," said Rhonda Posten, a 20-year teaching veteran.

Posten, a Galena Park ISD instruction specialist for language arts, said the benefits of retention may outweigh the stigma.

A University of Houston professor who has studied retention said his research shows students who repeat a year make significant gains in test scores.

"Third-graders who were retained made monumental gains" on state tests, up to 20 points higher than what they had scored the year before, said UH sociologist Gary Dworkin.

Dworkin, who conducted research for the Texas Education Agency, said his findings showed that, statewide, white males who live in poverty were the most likely to be held back. Boys were more likely to repeat a grade than girls, as were minorities and students who live in poverty.

Dworkin also said retaining students used to mean sending them back through the same class and same failed curriculum. Now, state accountability tests that rate schools and districts on how well their students achieve provide strong incentives for remedial programs.

The third-grade reading test is one of several components of TAKS, the state-mandated accountability test.

Third-grade reading is especially crucial, researchers and educators say, because students who cannot comprehend what they are reading by third grade have a greater chance of falling further behind as they go along.

"Before third grade, children are learning how to read," Posten said. "The third grade is a transitional year where they begin to read to learn."

"Years back, schools stopped emphasizing reading as much," Fletcher said, "and now we're realizing that if children are not reading by grade level in third grade, they remain behind even in high school."

Melanie Pritchett, TEA associate commissioner for statewide initiatives, agreed that reading may not have been emphasized enough to current high schoolers. Recent test scores prove that.

"Absolutely, a large part of the problem with high schools is reading comprehension," she said. "Part of it is also computational," referring to math and science scores, "but they can't read it and understand it enough to solve it."

Trying to break that cycle, Fletcher is part of a research team that used six Houston elementary schools as part of a study on how to best tailor reading instruction to promote early literacy.

The study, which Fletcher said is about to be published, concluded that intervention, whether in groups or one-on-one, is needed to help students who are likely to fail. At-risk students need more than the enhanced classroom instruction they may typically get.

More than 23,000 HISD kindergartners and first- and second-graders were identified last year as being "at-risk for reading difficulties," based on diagnostic tests.

English readers take the Texas Primary Reading Inventory and Spanish readers take the Tejas LEE Reading Inventory.

They qualify for enrollment in "reading intervention" programs. "Struggling readers" are required by state law to receive additional help besides redoing the third grade as their intervention, said HISD Chief Academic Officer Bob Stockwell.

Much of the type of help a child gets depends on how well parents understand what children are going through at school and how much support they ask for from their schools, said Ana Cummings, who educates parents at The Metropolitan Organization, a community and church coalition.

One of those struggling readers, Martin, twice took the third-grade reading test last year before passing.

A supportive extended family, including his grandmother, took him to early tutoring before school and picked him up late when he finished after-school tutoring. His mom helped the 9-year-old at home with study workbooks given by the elementary school teacher.

"It took a lot of extra work from him, our family and the school, but in his last test, the teacher said he was terrific," his grandmother said.

Parents should teach, or hire someone to teach their kindergarteners to read before the public schools get their hands on them. Buy a phonics kit!

When my son was three, he said he wanted to read his own stories, rather than having Mom or me do it. My wife bought Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I have no financial stake in this book at all... so I don't think mentioning it is against the rules. Anyway, it's about $20 on Amazon.

It takes about 15 minutes a day to do one lesson (phonics based). In a week, he was reading simple sentences. In a month he was reading simple storybooks. We never made it past Lesson 50, because by then he was reading everything he could lay hands on, and that was enough for a three year old.

Now, some people don't advocate early reading for a child. For us, the deciding factor was that he wanted to read. I understand, too, that some kids will figure out how to read later... every kid is different. But I will say this: having an early reader makes lots of things much easier.

I held my middle child back a year because she was small for her age and struggling socially; she did first grade twice. Academically she was doing fine, but I could see that she could be doing better if she wasn't so stressed by being small for her age. It was a great decision. She is so much happier and more successful in every way. She's still the smallest in her class!

Doesn't have anything to do with teaching, in this case. I have the kids in an excellent private school.

You have to get over your ego. Yeah, my friends' kids were all skipping grades, but they're tall and it worked fine for them. And then the kids turn 16 and are off to college, and I can't help but wonder if they've really gained anything by having their one chance at being kids short-sheeted that way.

--It's just too bad that what's best for each kid seems to be so far down the list of priorities for many parents and schools. --

I agree with you with the emphisis actually being on the parent. The schools are full of good students who want to be high achievers. Parents are the ones who guide their children toward success, teachers are a small part in the equation as a whole. IMHO.

Why should kids learn to read early?

Research studies over the last 30 years have shown that preschool reading activity produces significant I.Q. gains.

One study at Yale using MRI brain imaging techniques revealed that learning to SOUND OUT words results in more flow of blood to the brain. Conversely, readers who were not taught to sound out words had less blood flow to the brain's language centers.

Learning to "sound out" the letters does not occur automatically, however. It must be taught, and the earlier the better, preferably at age three.

Michael Phelp, co-inventor of the PET Scan, said, "If we teach children early enough, it will affect the organization or wiring of the brain. When small children learn to read or learn a new language, the ability to use that information is wired in the brain."

Our children were not only taught the "whole language" crap in school, but they also had to deal with the open classroom concept.

Going into my 12th school year as a parent, I am slowly seeing the system getting back to a common sense approach instead of "concept teaching".

I agree with you on the benefits of early reading. However, there is a contingent of the homeschool community that can cite competing research that early reading is not helpful, and can be harmful.

I don't agree with that position, but homeschooling is, at it's core, about parents making their own decisions and taking responsibility themselves... so I support their decisions within their own families.

For us, it's water under the bridge. His love of reading continues, and he's still way above grade level as we begin third grade.

...he said he wanted to read his own stories

That right there says it all.

Mom, I bet you've guessed that we read to him constantly, and I mean right from infant stage. Storybooks with big, bold pictures. My wife run run her fingers underneath the words as she read them.

I thought that was nonsense, but she wanted him to catch on that the words were where the story came from. OK, folks, you won't see this in print very often, at least from me: My wife was right and I was wrong.

"My wife bought Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I have no financial stake in this book at all... so I don't think mentioning it is against the rules. Anyway, it's about $20 on Amazon."

BIG dittos for 100 Easy Lessons. My kids (homeschooled) started reading at ages 3 and 4. They're both way ahead because of it....and it's been interesting to see that their peers in private school haven't even come close to their level, despite the mega bucks their parents have spent on tuition. Once in awhile I'll run into another parent who wants to know how we taught them, but most of the time people are kind of freaked out. They don't want to think their kids could be doing better....and they don't want their kids to get ahead of the others in their class.

I don't get it.

Once in awhile I'll run into another parent who wants to know how we taught them, but most of the time people are kind of freaked out. They don't want to think their kids could be doing better....and they don't want their kids to get ahead of the others in their class.

I can relate. We're very proud of the progress our son is making, but in all honesty, it's a pittance to the education children were getting in Jefferson's time. But we do our best.

People can get freaked out, so we just play it low-key. We don't trot out skills for him to perform in public like he's doing pet tricks. If they come to visit and happen to notice that he's reading a biography of Helen Keller or Jefferson, well they don't say anything.

In Scouts, he was writing in beautiful cursive at an age where most boys were struggling to print. The boys did get a little bug-eyed at that, but we just played it down.

My concern is what LW said about smart kids being unpopular. I don't care about unpopularity so much as I care about him being bullied. So far, neither has been a problem, but he's in Tae Kwan Do, so if he ever needs to defend himself, he'll be able to. Just passed his blue belt test... roughly half-way to his goal of black belt.

"I had a revealing conversation once with a Ph.D. who helped develop the "whole language" method of teaching reading used in the majority of our public schools. It was a social event and by the third drink he began to loosen up and admitted to me that they knew this approach did not have enough phonics for the "bottom fourth" of the class and they expected the program to weed them out (FAIL?). Most of those kids would then be put into remedial programs or special ed classes, which the schools receive federal aid for."

Hey, someone has to flip the burgers.

Public education is a racket, and these bums are setting up kids to fail. More parents should know what you now know. If they did, they'd drop kick superintendents like your fellow dinner guest out a third-floor window after kicking their butts down the hallway, and then they'd burn down the local souless pile of bricks to the ground.

It's all too easy for schools to blame TV, violence, parents, kids, etc., etc. It's the curriculum and teaching methods for the most part, obviously.

I wonder if math curricula is developed for the same purpose?

"We're very proud of the progress our son is making, but in all honesty, it's a pittance to the education children were getting in Jefferson's time. But we do our best."

Amen to that. What freaks me out is that I know that I could be doing so much more. We've been taking a pretty laid back approach so far.

Yeah, we've ended up doing the same after some very early experiences. We've found that it's okay to show off a bit with grandparents and folks with grown children, but not peers. It's just that when we're out with friends, and our kids can read all the signs in the museum or park, that things get a bit dicey.

"My concern is what LW said about smart kids being unpopular. I don't care about unpopularity so much as I care about him being bullied. So far, neither has been a problem, but he's in Tae Kwan Do, so if he ever needs to defend himself, he'll be able to. Just passed his blue belt test... roughly half-way to his goal of black belt."

That's great! Good for Tonto Jr. :^)

Unfortunately, brainy kids are not always popular with their peers (envy?). Look at the phenomenon of the studious black kids in the ghetto who are persecuted for "acting white."

The funny thing for us is that most folks expect Asians to be smart, and since our kids were adopted from China, that fits. But since they aren't being raised in an "Asian" home (with hard driving parents), they very well might be behind their Asian peers academically. Complicated, isn't it?

My niece was adopted from Korea. Hates to read even though she tested on the 10th grade level in the 4th grade in math and reading. She claims she's lazy, and she won't willingly pick up a book to read for enjoyment. Her parents have to push her, even though she does very well in school.

This September, she's going to a very demanding prep school where she'll sink or swim, and she knows she better swim. Her parents don't want her to go to the local public high school (even though it's been rated by "Newsweek" as one of the country's top 100, and it's right around the block from her) because they're afraid she'll get lost in the shuffle, pick up bad habits, etc.

Look at your keyboard. See the "less than" sign that you get when you strike Shift (comma)? Now see the greater than sign at Shift (period)? Now see the forward slash, probably same key as your question mark? Those are the keys.

Lessthan,i,greaterthan begins the italics.
Lessthan,/,i,greaterthan ends the italics.

Bold works the same way, except use "b" instead of "i".
Underline, use "u".

New paragraph = lessthan,p,greaterthan.

There are more complex html techniques that you can learn by searching on "html sandbox" but these get me through 95% of my postings.

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