Can My Child Be Left Back?
A QUICK GUIDE FOR EXCEPTIONS TO THE NYC PROMOTION POLICY

English Language Learners
English Language Learners (ELL) are students who come from homes where a language other than English is spoken and who score below the 41st percentile on the LAB-R and become eligible for bilingual education.

IS YOUR CHILD AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER WHO HAS BEEN IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR LESS THAN 2 YEARS?
• If yes, then your child is exempt from promotion standards and cannot be left back in their current grade.

IS YOUR CHILD AN ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER WHO HAS BEEN IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS?
• If yes, and your child is in the 4th-8th grade then your child must be promoted based on a 3-pronged criteria: 1) Student work, Teacher observations, Grades 2) Citywide and State test scores 3) 90% attendance

If your child is in the 8th grade they must also pass or perform satisfactorily in:
ESL and/or English, Math, Science, and Social Studies.

4th and 8th grade students have the right to be tested for the NYS science, social studies, and math exams in their native language.

They cannot be held back unless they have not met more than 1 of these criteria.

• If yes, and your child is in the 3rd grade then your child must meet the following criteria:
1) Perform satisfactorily in ESL literacy development or Primary Literacy Standards as determined by class work and teacher observation 2) meet NYC Performance Standards in Math or perform satisfactorily in math taught in ESL programs as determined by class work and teacher observation 3) achieve satisfactory level of proficiency in English on the NYS English as Second Language Achievement Test 4) achieving Proficiency Level 2 on the Citywide Math Assessment 5) attain 90% attendance.

They cannot be held back unless they have not met more than 1 of these criteria

Students Receiving Special Education Services
A "special education student" is a student that needs specialized instruction because he or she has a disability that affects the student's ability to progress in the general curriculum. All "special education students" have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that specifies the services and programs they will receive to meet the unique needs.

DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE AN INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN THAT SAYS THEY DO NOT TAKE STATE AND CITYWIDE ASSESSMENTS? (Page 9 of IEP)
• If yes, then your child is not subject to NYC public school promotion standards. That means they cannot be left back. However, the IEP will must specify how your child will be assessed and in order to "move-on" your child must perform satisfactorily according to their IEP on the assessment.

DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE AN INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PLAN THAT SPECIFIES A MODIFIED PROMOTION STANDARD? (Page 9 of IEP)
• If yes, then your child can be left back if they do not meet the modified promotion standards explicitly stated on their IEP. These standards are different than the general education standards for promotion in the Chancellor's Regulation A-501.

But what if...?

...my child is in the third grade?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, then in the current 2003-2004 school year your child will be exempt from the new 3rd grade promotion policy.

...my child is in the early childhood grades pre-k through 2nd?
There are no clear promotion standards for those grades. However, if you answered yes to any of the above questions then you should refer to those guidelines.

...my child is not an ELL or does not receive special education services? Can they automatically be left back?
If your child is in 4-8th grade they must be promoted based on a three-pronged assessment including the following criteria 1) Student work, Teacher observations, Grades 2) Citywide and State test scores 3) 90% attendance.
8th graders must pass English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies
If your child is in the 3rd grade they must score at or above Proficiency Level 2 on both the Citywide ELA and Mathematics exams in order to be promoted to the 4th grade.

HELP! MY CHILD IS IN THE 3rd GRADE AND MIGHT NOT BE PROMOTED!

Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, the New York City Department of Education enacted a new promotion policy for its 3rd grade students.
Third Graders will be left back if they do not achieve a Proficiency Level 2 on the Citywide English Language Arts AND Mathematics exams.
Below you will find information about students who may not be subject to the policy, and what you as a parent can do if you do not want your child held over.

Possible Exceptions to the New Promotion Standards
Special Education Students
Does your child have an IEP
WITHOUT
Modified Promotion Criteria?
(To do determine if your child has modified promotion criteria look at page 9 of their IEP. The bottom section of the page has a box that should be checked if they are subject to standard criteria or a box checked if they have modified criteria.)

For the 2003-3004 school year, these students will be promoted based on MULTIPLE criteria: 1) achieving Proficiency Level 2 on the Citywide ELA Assessment 2) achieving Level 2 on the Citywide Math Assessment 3) meet Primary Literacy Standards as determined through classwork and teacher observation 4) meet the NYC Performance standards in Math as determined through classwork and teacher observation 5) attain 90% attendance.

Is your child an ELL tested in English?
These students are not exempt from the new policy. They must achieve a score of Proficiency Level 2 on the Citywide ELA AND Math Assessments
Is your child an ELL exempt from testing in English? (All ELL students in an English school for less than 3 years are exempt from testing in English, but students enrolled for more than 2 years are subject to promotion guidelines.)

These students will be promoted based on MULTIPLE criteria: 1) Perform satisfactorily in ESL literacy development or meet Primary Literacy Standards as determined by class work and teacher observation 2) meet NYC Performance Standards in Math or perform satisfactorily in math taught in ESL programs as determined by class work and teacher observation 3) achieve satisfactory level of proficiency in English on the NYS English as Second Language Achievement Test
4) achieving Proficiency Level 2 on the Citywide Math Assessment 5) attain 90% attendance.
They cannot be held back unless they have not met more than 1 of these criteria

AUTOMATIC REVIEW OF ALL STUDENTS SCORING AT LEVEL 1

All students who score at Proficiency Level 1 on either the ELA or Mathematics assessments, or on both, will automatically have a portfolio of their work submitted by their teacher to the principal. Parents do not have to submit any request or personal appeal for this review.

The teacher, basing their judgment on the portfolio and their knowledge of the student, will indicate at which Level they think the student is performing.

The principal will review the portfolio and teacher assessments and recommend to the Community Superintendent who should be promoted to the 4th grade, despite their scores on the Citywide ELA and Mathematics assessments.

The Community Superintendent, who is located in the regional office, will make the final decision between June 14 and June 17.

• What should be in the student portfolio?
o Writing samples
o Classwork
o Homework
o Teacher Observations
o ECLAS-2 performance (a standardized assessment used by the teacher)
o Level of reading
o Any other documents and examples related to student performance and achievement

Summer School
Students who do not achieve a Level 2 on either the Citywide ELA or Mathematics assessment, and were not recommended for promotion, will not be promoted and will be recommended for summer school. Summer school is not mandatory.

At the end of the summer school session, students can retake the Citywide ELA and/or Mathematics assessments. The only have to retake the exam on which they scores at Level 1.

The Citywide ELA exam will be given AUGUST 9th. The Citywide Math exam will be given AUGUST 10th.

Parents who do not opt to send their child to summer school can still have them retested along with the summer school students in August.

Students who retake exams in August and achieve Performance Level 2 will be promoted to 4th grade.

Summer School Automatic Review:

As in June, all students who score at Proficiency Level 1 on either the ELA or Mathematics assessments, or both, will automatically have a portfolio of their work reviewed by the principal. Summer school work, teacher observations, and assessment scores will be added to the portfolio previously submitted in June.

The principal will review the updated portfolio and assessments and recommend to the Community Superintendent who should be promoted to the 4th grade.

Particular consideration will be given to a student that achieves a Level 1 on one d the citywide assessments and a Level 3 on the other. For example, achieving a Level 1 on the ELA assessment and a Level 3 on the Mathematics assessment.

The Community Superintendent, who is located in the regional office, will make the final decision between August 16th and August 20th.

PARENT APPEAL

Parents who do not believe that their child should be held over have the right to appeal the holdover decision. However, for 3rd grade parents only, appeals will not be considered until after the Citywide ELA and Mathematics test results are received in AUGUST.

After receiving the appeal, the principal will make a recommendation based on the student's portfolio to the Community Superintendent. The Community Superintendent will make the final determination.

In order to ensure that the school receives your appeal:
• Mail it certified mail, return receipt requested. Make sure to keep a copy for yourself! OR
• Hand deliver it to the school. Keep a copy for yourself and make sure to get it signed by the principal's office stating the date they received your letter of appeal.

GROUNDS FOR APPEAL
• Failure to Properly Notify Parents. A child can be held over even if the parents were not notified. Alone, this is not grounds for appeal, but can be discussed along with other grounds to make your argument for appeal stronger. Parents should be advised as early in the school year as possible that their child is not meeting standards. Written notice should be sent home no later than January 31st if a child continues to be at-risk for meeting standards.

• School's Failure to Provide Interventions to students At-Risk of Not Meeting Standards. Again, a child can be held over regardless of a school's failure to provide interventions, but it can be included in your discussion of why your child should not be left back. Parents and teachers of children who are at-risk of not meeting standards should meet to discuss strategies and interventions that will help move them toward promotion.

• The Student is Exempt from Regular Promotion Standards. English Language Learners who have been in English Language schools for less than 2 years cannot be held over. Students with special education needs who have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) should refer to their IEP to determine what standards they must meet for promotion. This is not limited to special education students in self-contained classes. It includes students who receive resource room, related services such as speech, etc.

When writing your letter be sure to discuss any of the above reasons that apply to your child, as well as any other reasons that you believe should be considered in your child's appeal.

If you would like more information or a copy of a sample letter please contact AFC. Call our hotline at 212 947-9779 x 544.
Sample Letter of Appeal for Parents of Students in Grade 3

Date

Principal
Address

Re: Child's name
Date of Birth:

Dear Principal _______,

In accordance with Chancellor's Regulation A-501, I am appealing the school's decision to (hold over my child, ________) The decision to hold over my child violates the Chancellor's Regulation because (the school failed to appropriately provide supplementary interventions and supports to assist my child in meeting the promotion standards) (the school inappropriately failed to notify me that my child was at risk of being held over, thus failing to give my child the opportunity to receive any additional help that he/she may have required).

(If your child's school did not properly notify you of your child's risk of being held over)
Chancellor's Regulation A-501 specifies a timeline for schools to notify parents when they are at risk of not being held over. According to the Regulation, parents should be notified no later than the Fall Parent Teacher Conference that "the student's performance is not approaching standards... if the student is still at risk of not meeting the standards as evidenced by student work/grades and/or attendance, written notice to that effect will be sent to the parent no later than January 31." (Section 8.A) Finally the Regulations require that parents be notified in writing by regular mail of the June decision not to promote a student. (Section 8.B) I was not informed (at the Fall parent teacher conference) (by January 31 in writing) that my child was at risk of being held over. Although the regulation states that "failure to provide notice to parents shall not require promotion," the school's failure to notify me of my child's promotion status denied me an opportunity to seek the assistance my child needed in order to meet the promotion standards and denied my child the opportunity to receive the support s/he needed to meet the standards. Because of this failure, my child should be given the opportunity to be promoted to the next grade and receive extra supportive services in the following grade to help him/her meet the standards for the following year.

(If your child received no interventions or supports from the school, use the following paragraph)
Chancellor's Regulation A-501 states that principals, in collaboration with the School Leadership Teams, are responsible for producing Comprehensive Education Plans that "specify intervention programs and strategies for individual students who are achieving below performance standards." (Section 1.B.2) In addition the regulation states that "teachers must, in collaboration with appropriate school-based staff and under the principal's leadership, ensure that instructional and support interventions are provided to students at risk of not meeting the promotion standards." (Section 1.B.3) Finally, records of the school's instructional interventions should be maintained by the school. (Section 8.B) State Regulations also require that the school provide academic intervention services (AIS) for all students who are at risk of not achieving their grade's standards (NYS Commissioner's Regulations 100.2 (ee)). Although my child was at risk of being held over, the school provided no instructional and/or support interventions for my child to help him/her meet the promotion standards. Because of this failure, my child should be promoted to the next grade and should receive extra support services to allow him/her to meet the promotion standards for the following year.

More important than the above violations of the Chancellor's Regulations is the potential harm that will occur if my child is retained next year. Research on the effects of retaining students demonstrates that retention impedes the progress of children in learning the material they have missed and leads primarily to drop out and educational failure.

The recent National Research Council study found that although grade retention policies are intended to motivate students to learn and enable them to learn the knowledge they need at each grade level, their effect is often the opposite. High Stakes: Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation 285(Jay P. Heubert and Robert M. Hauser eds., 1999).

After reviewing the many controlled studies of grade retention the study concluded that:
Low performing students who have been retained in kindergarten or primary grades lose ground both academically and socially relative to similar students who have been promoted. In secondary school grades retention leads to reduced achievement and much higher rates of school dropout. At present, the negative consequences of grade retention policies typically outweigh the intended positive effects.
Id. at 285 (citations omitted).

Thank you for considering this appeal. Please send your response to __________ _______________.

Sincerely,



___________________
(name)

(Note: remember to send your appeal certified mail return receipt requested, or if dropping it off, get a copy signed by someone from the principal's office stating the date the letter was received for your records)


APPEALING YOUR CHILD'S HOLDOVER
GRADES 4-8

Parents who do not believe that their child should be held over have the right to appeal the holdover decision.

An appeal must be made in writing to the school principal
within 3 school days of "mailed notification" of the holdover decision.

After receiving the appeal, the principal has 2 days to make a recommendation to the Community Superintendent. The Community Superintendent will make the final determination. In past years parents have been notified of the final determination by the end of the regular school year.

In order to ensure that the school receives your appeal:
• Mail it certified mail, return receipt requested. Make sure to keep a copy for yourself! OR
• Hand deliver it to the school. Keep a copy for yourself and make sure to get your copy signed by someone from the principal's office stating the date they received it.

GROUNDS FOR APPEAL

• School's Failure to Use Multiple Criteria. In deciding to hold over a student, schools must look at several performance measures including,
o Student work, Teacher observations, Grades
o Citywide and State test scores
o 90% attendance
Your child CAN be held back if they DO NOT meet 2 or more of these 3 criteria

• Failure to Properly Notify Parents. A child can be held over even if the parents were not notified. Alone, this is not grounds for appeal, but can be discussed along with other grounds to make your argument for appeal stronger. Parents should be advised as early in the school year as possible that their child is not meeting standards. Written notice should be sent home no later than January 31st if a child continues to be at-risk for meeting standards.

• School's Failure to Provide Interventions to students At-Risk of Not Meeting Standards. Again, a child can be held over regardless of a school's failure to provide interventions, but it can be included in your discussion of why your child should not be left back. Parents and teachers of children who are at-risk of not meeting standards should meet to discuss strategies and interventions that will help move them toward promotion.

• The Student is Exempt from Regular Promotion Standards. English language learners who have been in schools for less than 2 years cannot be held over. Special Education students with Individual Education Plans should refer to their IEP to determine what standards they must meet for promotion. This is not limited to special education students in separate classes. It includes students who receive resource room, related services such as speech, etc.

When writing your letter be sure to discuss any of the above reasons that apply to your child and any other reasons which you believe should be considered in your child's appeal.

What can I do?
If you believe that your child should not be held back you may write a letter of appeal to the principal within 3 days of receiving notification that your child is not being promoted.
If your child received special education services and they are being held back you may also file for an Impartial Hearing.

For more information and a copy of a sample letter of appeal please contact AFC. Call our Promotion Hotline at 212 947-9779 x544


Is your child going to summer school?
Summer school isn't mandatory for anyone this year, but school officials are urging children in grades 2-8 who are danger of being held back to attend special classes starting July 6. Parents should get letters this week or next if their child scored so poorly on the standardized tests that he or she should attend. These children will have another chance to take those tests in August.

Not all schools will be open, but the Department of Education website lists the ones that will have summer sessions. (Or call your school directly). Breakfast and lunch are offered. Academic classes are given in the morning, and some schools will have afternoon "enrichment" programs as well.

Summer Success Academy for 2nd and 3rd graders

Second and third graders will be assigned to the Summer Success Academy, which is designed to get kids up to speed for a math and English re-test in early August. Students – no more than 15 to a class -- will have breakfast at 8 a.m., academic classes from 8:30 to 1 p.m., and supplementary "enrichment" from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Classes are held Monday through Thursday. The English Language Arts (ELA) re-test is scheduled for August 9 and the math test, August 10. Make-ups will be given on August 11. Parents are invited to attend weekly workshops about how to support their children during summer school and throughout the school year. Schools will offer the services of guidance counselors and speech therapy, although only a limited number of school nurses will be on hand.

Morning programs only for 4th - 8th graders

Although most of the emphasis -- and money -- for summer school will be for 2nd and 3rd graders, there are other programs available for students who are struggling. Fourth through 8th graders will be notified by June 14 whether they may attend. Summer sessions for grades 4 - 8 will have morning math and literacy but no afternoon extras. Parents should check with their schools or districts to see if they are providing additional programs. Classes run from July 6-August 5, Monday-Thursday. Schools open at 8 a.m. for breakfast and children are dismissed at 1 p.m. after lunch

Other summer school programs include:

K-3 Reading First, a reading and language arts program, includes a summer program for selected kindergarten through 3rd grade students. Located in 49 public schools, the program is centered on reading materials different from those used in the "balanced literacy" approach of the citywide curriculum. Third graders in Reading First will also receive math instruction, and if necessary, they can re-take the English Language Arts (ELA) test on August 9 and the mathematics test on August 10. Third grade students in Reading First schools will also participate in supplementary enrichment programs. This program starts on July 6 and runs through July 29, Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. through 11:00.

Programs for high schoolers

Various programs are available for high school students. High school students will be notified by their guidance counselors whether they should attend summer school, in some cases not until after Regents exams have been graded. Some programs for high school students start as soon as July 1 and run 5 days a week. Bridge to High School, for incoming 9th graders, works to smooth the transition to high school by focusing strengthening students' literacy and math skills as well as their study habits. Sessions also include conflict resolution and career-readiness programs. Students may earn up to two elective credits. (Not offered in all regions).

9th Grade Intensive Literacy is targeted at selected 9th grade students who have attended Ramp-Up or another 9th grade literacy program for Level 1 and Level 2 students. Students may earn one elective credit.

There are opportunities for students who need additional credits and passing scores on Regents examinations to advance to the next grade and/or to graduate on time. Regents and RCT test prep are part of the course. There is also a special Regents Study program, running from July 26-August 16.

Make-up services for students in special education

Special education students will participate in all summer programs. Any student who receives door-to-door busing during the school year will also receive it during the summer. Students who did not receive related services to which they were entitled during the school year will be provided with make-up services during the summer, the Department of Education announced on June 8. These services can include counseling, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech/language therapy and vision and hearing services. Children will receive up to two one-hour sessions per week, per related service, between July 6 and August 12. Parents of students who did not receive these services as recommended during the school year will get a letter from the DOE this week with details about the program.

English Language Learners

English-Language Learners (ELLs) are to be included in the regular summer program. There will be teachers trained in ELL methods to support students, including those who have been ELLs for more than three years. The new promotion policy applies, with some exceptions, to English-language learners in an English language school system for three years or more.

[If your child is at risk of being held over and you want to appeal, click here for information.]

[Have a thought about this year's summer school offerings? Drop a letter to our Mailbag.]

--Judy Baum and Pam Mendels, June 8, 2004