Re: study of red****rting (late entrance to kndergarten)

In article <4_GdnazGw-TKkB_VnZ2dnUVZ_u2dnZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, toypup says...
>
>Banty wrote:
>> In article <rKudnQ2gJJg2yhzVnZ2dnUVZ_srinZ2d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, toypup
says...
>
>>> Honestly, my opinion is that there is a test for skipping grades, make
a 
>>>test for red****rting.  There are kids who need it, but only kids who
need it
>>> should be red****rted.  My guess is some of these competitive parents
(not 
>>> all are competitive, but it can get that ways some places) wouldn't 
want 
>>> their kid to be officially declared not ready for school by anyone but

>>> themselves and will stop with the red****rting already. 
>> 
>> Good idea.  How to enforce, though?  Without perhaps having truant
officers
>>appear at five and six year old's doors.  Also, what of kids like my son
with a
>> teacher happy and eager to testify as to his need to be red****rted.
>> 
>> Banty
>> 
>
>I think it ought to be an objective test, not someone's opinion.  After 
>all, when I was a kid, my kindy teacher wanted me held back.  She was 
>actually racist, which I didn't realize until I was an older (and my 
>parents didn't know, because they didn't see her in class).  I've had 
>teachers I didn't mesh with and that don't care for me so much, but 
>she's the only one I'd call racist.  This was Texas during the Vietnam 
>war, everyone was caucasian, except me (Vietnamese) and one African 
>American child and she hated both of us, especially me.  At any rate, I 
>understand that we can't have it based on one teacher's opinion, because 
>s/he could be heavily biased.
>
>I think if there were testing required to red****rt kids, the competitive 
>parents wouldn't want to red****rt their kids for fear that other parents 
>or the teachers would think their child tested as not very bright.  They 
>wouldn't even want to ****rk the law and not test and keep their kids 
>home for a year for fear of how it would appear.
>

I agree with the testing that would go both ways, both to justify
acceleration
and to justify red****rting.  And that prejudice is behind some of the
red****rting (notably, unrealistic gender-based expectations of *boys*).

I just think that the school systems, are at the least, *complicit* in
these
red****rting tidal waves as it allows them to sit down a big pro****tion of
kids
one year older for those high-stakes tests.  Since they'll be giving the
tests
and enforcing the rules, I'm not optimistic.

And I'm not sure how one can *make* a family that keeps their kid home an
extra
year to start kindy, take their kid to kindy.  I guess it woudl have to be
a
truancy thing.

Banty