by John Kearney
NARRATION: Among the longstanding problems that have eluded New York City school reformers has been the practice known as "social promotion." For New Yorkers, the phrase conveys images of kids advancing through New York's schools, failing ever upward. Soon they emerge with a high school diploma, while lacking the academic skills needed to work and learn in the real world.
This was the experience of Mabel Jurez, who thought nothing of it at the time.
ACT: JUREZ: To me what really mattered to me, of course, was being with my peers. My strength was to act up, and talk, and be the class clown. But for some reason, I happened to pass.
NARRATION: Jurez, 25, grew up in Washington Heights, and attended P.S. 152. Last week, Jurez told the City Council education committee that social promotion kept her from getting a good education. The occasion was a hearing convened to examine Chancellor Klein's plan to hold back third graders who fail standardized tests.
But teachers and education professionals have led the opposition to Klein's proposal.
ACTUALITY: FALK: One test should never be used to make a high-stakes decision about children's futures.
NARRATION: Beverly Falk is professor of childhood education at the City University of New York.
ACTUALITY: FALK: Even the commercial test publishers make a disclaimer that these tests should not be used to make high-stakes decisions about children's lives.
ACT: CAVANAUGH: The issue is--do we promote children who cannot read?
NARRATION: Debbie Cavanaugh is a Queens mother who testified at the City Council hearing.
ACT: CAVANAUGH: And if we promote them to the fourth grade as opposed to retaining them, as the chancellor suggests, do they have a chance of succeeding?
NARRATION: Debbie Cavanaugh's twelve-year old daughter also testified in favor of Klein's plan, saying the tests will help identify struggling students. Yet Professor Falk says there is evidence disputing the benefits of holding children back:
ACTUALITY: FALK: There have been studies that have compared those who are retained in a grade and kids with the exact same scores who were moved ahead. After they have been tracked for a year or two years, the kids who moved ahead were doing much better than the kids who were retained.
NARRATION: Teachers at the hearing testified that results of third graders' standardized tests can vary widely, depending upon the fragile emotional and attention makeup of the child on any given day. But Debbie Cavanaugh said it's a fairy tale to ignore the reality of testing by the third grade:
ACT: CAVANAUGH: Tests are something we all have to deal with. You want to be a doctor? You pass the medical board. You want to be a lawyer? You pass the LSATs. Whatever it is you want to do, you have to pass a test to get there.
NARRATION: Monday's vote will be before the Department of Education's Panel for Educational Policy. With eight out of 13 seats appointed by the mayor, it's unlikely the vote will go against Chancellor Klein's third grade testing plan. But on Monday night, teacher and advocacy groups opposing Klein's proposal plan to be out in force with guerrilla theater and street protests.
For Columbia Radio News, this is John Kearney.