I'm at Brownsville Road today, an elementary school to which I enjoy coming. I've already encountered so many ways in which the students are "held back", but not by teachers wanting to fail them.
For those of you outside Memphis, there's been a ruling lately that a student cannot fail from Kindergarten through third grade. Astonishing as that may be to some of you, the feeling is that it is more detrimental to hold a student back than let them continue to the next grade at this tender age.
When questioned about it, the administration says that even if the student does not come to school, they will be sent on. They'll run into some truency issues, but they will be passed on.
I see these little folks and my observation is this-They are DESPERATE for someone to push them-to make them, if necessary, complete their work and have the watermark experience of a learning revelation. The smile on their faces when they "get it" is worth everything else one puts up with to get them there.
These students are being held back by parents who don't care and adults who don't care. We should care and we should hold them back if need be-but push them forward as well.
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