rti
Retention: Fighting the Good Fight Against Holding Kids Back (or how I learned to stop worrying and love RtI)
Parents have to choose their battles wisely. That repetitive math homework that seemed a little pointless? Ignore it. The writing assignment that seemed at least B+ worthy, but got a C? Let it go. But if in-grade retention is being discussed for your child, it is time to roll up your sleeves and fight the good fight!
A great writer would never begin a piece with a cliché, so I beg your forgiveness in saying that in-grade retention is the epitome of Einstein’s overused definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Yet every year, students like Jesse, a second grader who struggles with reading, will do, “the same thing over,” and repeat the same grade while watching his classmates move to third grade. This traumatic event leaves Jesse feeling like a failure and his parents broken-hearted while people such as your humble narrator wonder, “Why do we keep doing this to our children?”
Even more maddening than the obvious “insanity” component is the fact that in-grade retention is an extremely well researched practice, and the research overwhelmingly concludes that holding kids back is not an effective intervention for students who are struggling at school. I would challenge anyone reading these words, especially parents or educators who are considering retaining a child, to google “in-grade retention research,” and see for yourself. (To jumpstart your search, here is a helpful article describing much of the research from the 70s to the mid-2000s.)
Digging into the treasure-trove of research, here is what you will find: Kids who are retained (who, by the way, are disproportionally black children and boys), may appear to show gains in their first couple of years after the retention, but after 2-3 years, their gains level off and they achieve at similar levels to students who also struggled but were promoted. The true differences between the retained child vs. the promoted child, however, are found within the negative byproducts that research shows retained children receive such as significantly increased risks of dropping-out of school, future drug and alcohol use, poor attitudes towards school, as well as difficulties with self-esteem and emotional issues.
To be clear, this article is not a call for “social promotion,” which is also an ineffective practice. Students should not be blindly moved grade-to-grade while their deficiencies are ignored. This is a call to eliminate the ineffective practice of in-grade retention and replace it with promotion that meets children where they are developmentally and academically. This may sound idealistic, but there is actually a vehicle in place already designed to facilitate such a practice: Response to Intervention (RtI) / Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).
If your school is utilizing RtI / MTSS correctly, a child who is performing below grade level should be promoted to the next grade where he will receive either Tier 2 (increased remedial instruction) or Tier 3 (intensive, individualized instruction) in the area(s) of need. If retention is an option being discussed and RtI / MTSS interventions are not a frequent topic of conversation in your conferences, that school has a serious problem on their hands that might need to be corrected at a higher level.
If your child is at-risk of becoming a victim of the damaging practice of retention, arm yourself with research and alternatives. Fight the good fight! See below for a couple more resources to help inform as well as provide you with strategies for fighting retention:
10 Strategies to Fight Mandatory Retention
Retention and Social Promotion Discussion
Matthew Wiggins, Ed.S
Licensed School Psychologist
WigginsEvals.com
WTH is MTSS?: A Jargon Free Explanation for Parents
It’s ok. Many school, district, and state leaders are confused about it too. Or at least the way they communicate about the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) with parents would suggest that. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of MTSS in meetings and trainings with various school districts in the Sunshine State over the past several years and have come to the conclusion that:
MTSS, philosophically, is a very GOOD thing for our kids that, when truly understood and implemented, can reap some very positive results.
But..
Even districts that implement MTSS effectively have difficulty articulating what it is to parents.
With that, your friendly neighborhood school psychologist will try to do what others haven’t: make MTSS make sense.
So what is MTSS?
MTSS is a way of doing things within the school that impacts every single student enrolled and is designed to make sure no one “falls through the cracks.” It is not a program. It is not a process. It is not anything that anyone can be “put in.” MTSS is a philosophy that considers all learners to make sure all students are getting the instruction needed and are making adequate growth. There are three tiers of instruction, and your child is in (at least) one of them.
Tier 1: The General Curriculum (100% of students)
No need to overcomplicate this. Every single student receives the core, or Tier 1, instruction. Schools use various curriculums (i.e., Treasures for reading, Go Math! for mathematics, etc.) as a means for presenting that core instruction. It is expected that at least 80% of our students will make adequate progress with this core instruction. Simple so far, isn’t it?
Tier 2: Students Who Struggle Get More Support (15%-20% of students)
If 80% of our kids are making adequate progress with the core instruction, that means that 20% are not gaining enough, so Tier 2 exists to support these students. Many schools provide Tier 2 support in groups of four or five students working with a teacher each day using a program in a given subject in addition to the core Tier 1 instruction. Other schools provide Tier 2 with computer programs in labs. Regardless of the method, it is expected that the majority of those students getting Tier 2 support will make adequate progress.
Tier 3: Intensive Instruction (5% of students)
When students are getting the core instruction (Tier 1), frequent instruction beyond that (Tier 2), and are still not making gains, MTSS calls for an individualized, intense level of instruction (Tier 3); there should be no more that 5% of the general student population needing this level of support. Diagnostic assessments are given to pinpoint why students are not learning and create a plan for how to intervene. This support, when provided appropriately, must be in a setting that is no larger than a one-to-three teacher to student ratio; one-to-one instruction is ideal when possible.
It is vital that in Tier 3, the teaching be specific to the student need. For instance, if a child is weak in reading and the diagnostic shows that he has excellent phonics skills but has a poor vocabulary, vocabulary should be the focus of this level of instruction.
If Tier 3 Is Not Successful: Psychoeducational Evaluations / ESE Testing
If a child is still not making adequate progress despite intensive, individualized amount support, it is likely that an evaluation is warranted to determine if there is a learning disability, intellectual disability, language impairment, or other condition that is preventing the student from making progress. If an evaluation is requested, schools should adjust the instruction further and continue with an intensive level of support while waiting for the evaluation to be completed.
There are a million nooks-and-crannies (which you can explore here) that go into what those three tiers of MTSS. School improvement, behavior management, and curriculum evaluation are part of that. They are details for the professionals you entrust your children with to sort through. But when you get down to what MTSS really is, it is just a way of doing things to make sure all children are being taught at their level so everyone can grow and have their needs met.
Is Your Child’s School Using MTSS Effectively? If So, Then…
- They are monitoring your child’s progress in every tier. Just as the instruction gets more intense and specific, so does the progress monitoring (i.e., Tier 2 / small group progress may be monitored monthly, while students receiving Tier 3 / intensive instruction should be monitored at least weekly).
- They are communicating with you about what tier of support your child is in and showing specific data (yay, line graphs!) that illustrates progress.
- They are meeting regularly to make sure that the instruction at your child’s school is effective. This means looking at individual classrooms and grades to make sure most students are making gains, and when they are not, analyzing why not (i.e., Is the reading series we use not as good as we hoped? Is Mr. Jones teaching fractions correctly?).
- Teams are providing your child with help before (and while) any type of testing or ESE services have begun. They will continue providing a high level of support regardless of the outcome of the evaluation.
- They use the MTSS model in a similar manner to help improve behavior issues at the school as well.
And most importantly…
- They will NOT allow your child to fall through the cracks!
Wiggins Educational Evaluations 