Why Students Fail In High School

Words: 844
Pages: 4
Open Document
If I told you that paying attention in class could limit the dropout rate, would you start? If the happiness of the world depended on exceeding standards, would you work harder in school? Statistics show that dropout rates and drug usage increase in high school every year. One main factor that causes this issue is the frequency of failed courses, which could be avoided by retention. Course retention, commonly used as ¨held back¨, is the act of repeating an academic year of school due to a student's lack of knowledge in multiple concepts. With this opportunity, students get a second chance at learning the standards to not only get promoted to the next grade level, but to also relate the standards to everyday life. Although many students may …show more content…
They are dropping out due to the consistent failures in their courses. The only way to get them on track is by giving them extra time to learn. Therefore, students who fail their classes should be retained and have to repeat the grade. This is necessary because it is an injustice to promote a student to a higher level course regardless of their mastery or failed performance on the concepts. In addition, passing a student when he/she is not performing according to the expectations of the classroom will lead to a prejudgment of encouragement to the student's thoughts. Furthermore, not getting retained will potentially lead to bullying and stress. Finally, students getting retained is a brilliant choice rather than proceeding to the next grade level without maintaining a general understanding of the basic …show more content…
When getting retained in the same grade level, the process gives students who are truly behind, developmentally, a chance to catch up (. During an interview with Mr. Dave Howland, principal of KIPP: Atlanta Collegiate High School, he was asked, ¨Do you find that for students who have repeated a grade/course have improved their success in other courses taken? How so?¨ Mr. Howland responded by stating, ¨Yes, frequently because if the student has failed their course (s), they have another chance to gain mastery and recover. A student will typically fail a course because they are not having enough time to learn every standard within the course.¨ This is evident that when students come to school, they do not understand some of the words that the teachers are using throughout the lesson. Also, especially in high school, some schools implement a semester-based (five months) curriculum structure, rather than elementary and middle schools having classes based on a time of a whole school year (ten months).
It is an injustice to promote a student to a higher level course regardless of their mastery or failed performance on the concepts. There could be one child in the room who exceeds all assignments in the class, but then have one child who does absolutely nothing or show little
Show More

Related Documents: Why Students Fail In High School

Warren New Technology High School Case Study

1) Numerous students at Warren New Technology High School get caught for plagiarism throughout the year from all grade levels. Why do you think they plagiarize? I believe that students plagiarism at New Tech because it is easier than doing the work. I am aware that most students often procrastinate till the last minute, and then do not have enough time to finish. This causes students to turn to plagiarism in order to pass a class. I think that students believe that they will not be caught because…

Words 596 - Pages 3

Mary Sherry's In Praise Of The F Word

Sherry tells about the faults of schools’ education system. Sherry first introduces herself as a teacher who teaches adults. She discovers that most of her students are regretful about their high school career and wish that they could have fulfilled more than whatever was just thrown to them. A lot of them feel that they just passed their courses without learning anything such as basic skills. They feel like no one was there to guide them through their high school years, which eventually lead them…

Words 373 - Pages 2

Essay about QUIZ 2

Why Students Fail in Math Classes: Pedagogy and Immaturity! It is my contention that many students fail in math for two main reasons: their own success motivation and pedagogy. Let’s explore each of these reasons for students failure to pass math classes, starting with the students' motivation and ending with pedagogy. According to Online business dictionary, motivation means: “Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and…

Words 620 - Pages 3

Essay on High School

School hours of some schools start way to early for some students. In order to function right teens need 91/4 hours. If teens don’t get that nine and a quarter hours of sleep are not necessarily lazy its just not good for them not to have less than nine hours of sleep. This is why schools start times should start later so kids can have there advantages of getting there full nine hours of sleep in. if school hours start at 10:15am instead of 8:15am it would give teens and extra two hours of sleep…

Words 544 - Pages 3

Music: High School and Music Education Essay

which mankind cannot comprehend. — Ludwig van Beethoven I come from a family of musicians. My father and my cousin are high school band directors. Several of my relatives played in band in high school and continue to play as adults. In the past 25 years, six of my relatives have won either the John Philip Souza Band Award or the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award here at Portland High. I myself have been a musician for six years and have participated in multiple select ensembles. I have seen first-hand…

Words 705 - Pages 3

Essay on Reading problems in schools

Unfortunately this happens way to much in high schools. In fact one in eight high school students are illiterate. How is this even possible? How do we go about fixing this problem? “It is a problem that should be addressed a lot sooner than high school. I don’t always deal with kids that have this problem because I teach honors but when I do I try to give these students different assignments and track their reading progress. There could be a lot of reasons why this has happened. A lot of times grades…

Words 747 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis Of Back To School Event

President Obama gave a “Back to School Event” on September 8, 2009, in Arlington, Virginia. He makes his audience feel accepted and like he is one of the students. He tells the audience that “It is understandable if you’re a little nervous” and that he knows that we probably are wishing we “could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning”. He stresses the fact that there are responsibilities on a student, as well as the school, and staff. Everyone has to put in their all in order for everything…

Words 705 - Pages 3

The Importance Of Trade School

High School Graduates should consider going into a trade school before going to college, if they are nowhere near being prepared for the college life. Trades schools is a good option for some High school graduates because some students do not want to go in debt right out of high school. Other Students might find trades schools to fit their interests better then Universities. All trade schools continue to be different from universities; some of the biggest differences are that trade schools only requires…

Words 260 - Pages 2

Iraq: High School and Diploma Essay

Writing Some high schools require for their students to take a standardized test in order to receive a diploma. However, I don’t agree with the idea of having one test determine if you pass or fail high school. It’s weird to think that your performance on one particular test on one particular day is the only factor in you getting your diploma. If passing that test was the only way to get your diploma, I wouldn’t see a reason for doing well in any of my courses in high school. It should all be…

Words 579 - Pages 3

Chewing Gum Research Paper

Chewing Gum In School,Should it be Allowed? By: Anish Velaparthi You are sitting in a dull and boring class, gazing at the window, wondering what to do to fulfill your boredom. Gum comes to your mind, it can definitely give you something to do to pass time but you remember that the administrators of your school banned chewing gum. This situation is all too familiar in schools nowadays. That is why school officials should grant the approval of chewing gum in school, because children that chew gum…

Words 615 - Pages 3