When kids fail an exam the teacher should look at why this child has failed, and everyone - the parents, teachers, and principal of the school - not only need to put appropriate support behind this child, whatever it may be, but must provide this child with the tools to learn. Right?

No, say many education officials from around the country. Our public school conference rooms are filled with teachers who say that "Failing a test is 'obviously' the student's and parent's fault"; the Principal agrees; the parent says that it is "the teacher's fault"; and the child often agrees with the parent, and adds "this teacher doesn't like me", or, "this teacher doesn't speak english or spanish", or "I don't understand what I need to know for the test, and no one would help me".

One thing that everyone is in agreement on, though, is that when huge numbers of children fail a test not once but three times, someone is not teaching them what these students need to know, or are not allowing them to learn. Everyone who is involved in these children's lives are accountable, and we should all stop trying to 'pass the buck' in order to try to find a solution. Kids must be given information that is timely, useful, and understandable, so that they may succeed. They must be taught what they need to know, and this is the role of a teacher. Klein's testing quagmire may not be the answer for this question. It may be an answer to another question, but it certainly is not approriate for 1000 kids who must now repeat third grade for the third time:

Kids face third try in 3rd grade
By KATHLEEN LUCADAMO (June 18, 2004)
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A whopping 20% of third-graders who already had been held back flunked crucial exams this year, which may mean they have to sit through the grade a third time, the Daily News has learned.
Of the 5,000 third-graders repeating the grade this year, nearly 1,000 failed city English and math exams this April, according to Education Department statistics obtained by The News.

"I want an individual analysis of what is going on," Chancellor Joel Klein demanded yesterday.

Klein told The News he will put principals on the hot seat: "What's happening to this child? Why are they still failing?"

The chancellor said he won't decide the fate of the 939 students right away - but they might not be promoted.

Mayor Bloomberg has vowed to hold back all third-graders who scored the lowest of four levels on city tests this year.

The Education Department released school-by-school scores yesterday, showing that although 11,700 students flunked, only 10,800 are subject to the policy because the rest are special education or bilingual students, who are exempt.

At five schools, more than half of third-graders scored Level 1 on both reading and math exams. But 16 schools boasted no Level 1 third-graders.

Davonte Deans, a 10-year-old third-grader at Public School 157 in the South Bronx, has been held back twice - once in the third grade and once in the second grade - and still bombed both exams. "Holding him back has only lowered his self-esteem and made him violent. He's in a class with a bunch of little kids he can pick on. He's a bully," said his mom, Yvonne Deans.

The school told her Davonte may spend another year in the grade, but at a different school. "They are just going to pass the problem to someone else," Deans said.

Kids who flunked still have two more chances to move ahead: an appeal filed by a teacher and a second go-round with the tests after summer school.

Klein predicted "several thousand" students would win an appeal, meaning the total number of third-graders held back may end up about half the 15,000 repeaters officials had predicted.

Kathy Zwiebel Perretta, a third-grade teacher at PS 198 on the upper East Side, said one of her students failed the reading exam this year after spending another year in third grade. "I don't think holding her back again will do her any bit of good," Perretta said.

The 9-year-old girl towers over her tiny classmates and has improved in math. "She'll just get frustrated," Perretta said.

Klein admitted holding students back indefinitely isn't the answer. "You can't keep saying to the kids, 'Let's do this one more time,'" Klein said.

Originally published on June 18, 2004