Consortium on Chicago School Research
February 2004
This fine report closely examines the effect of Chicago's decision to end social promotion on that city's students and teachers. The basic policy required pupils to achieve specific scores in reading and math on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills before advancing beyond the third, sixth, and eight grades. This is a timely topic that deserves scrutiny, especially in New York City, where controversy is raging over Mayor Bloomberg's hotly contested and hastily implemented social promotion plan (see http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=140#1730 for more details). The analysts conducted extensive interviews and surveys and used data from both before and after the policy was implemented (1996-1997) in order to make their comparisons. In brief, they found that the advent of high-stakes testing led to low-performing students receiving more support from teachers and parents and to teachers focusing their instruction more on reading and math. However, they also found that a key concern of testing opponents has merit: teachers spent more time teaching test prep skills - simply explaining techniques for successfully taking a test. (One teacher claimed to have devoted 240 hours to such tasks in 1999.) In addition, the researchers worry that added training may be needed for teachers to actually improve their instruction (rather than just refocusing it), and they note that the long-term effects of grade retention are unclear. Still, most teachers supported the policy - they felt it reinforced their work rather than compromised it - and we judge that there are more positives than negatives to setting higher expectations and accompanying them with real consequences, especially for youngsters who most need the extra push. Unfortunately, despite the positive results shown in this study, Chicago school officials this week scaled back the social promotion plan and will now retain only those students who fail the reading test, while promoting those who pass reading but fail math. Nonetheless, this is a thoughtful report that provides a balanced view of an important and contentious topic; find it at http://www.consortium-chicago.org/publications/p68.html. You can also learn about the Consortium's evaluation of the summer school program required of those Chicago students who are held back by visiting an earlier Gadfly at http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=16#252.
"Windy city schools let up," by Carl Campanile, New York Post, March 25, 2004
"In reversal, Chicago eases promotions," by David S. Herszenhorn, New York Times, March 25, 2004 (registration required)
