Chicago's Take On Failing Kids

Eight years ago, Chicago moved to end social promotion of its students, and the city has since been a bellwether in the debate over whether to keep kids who don't meet standards from moving on to the next grade. But the city's school board changed its program last week. In a new policy, it pledged more support for struggling students and ended the practice of holding back kids solely on the basis of their math scores. Chicago schools CEO Arne Duncan insists the changes do not amount to a reversal. "This is an evolving process," he says. "I think we're getting smarter."

Students who pass reading tests, have fewer than 20 days of unexcused absences and score at least in the 35th percentile on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills pass automatically. Most will not be forced to repeat the same grade more than twice in elementary school, but those whose test scores fall below a certain level will be required to take remedial courses. The new policy is bolstered by an independent study — due for release April 6--conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. According to a school-board summary of its findings, which was leaked to the Chicago Sun-Times, the test scores of third-graders who were held back showed "no appreciable increase," while those of held-back sixth-graders were more likely to decrease. John Easton, executive director of the consortium, declined to discuss the findings in detail but said they support the notion that "retention is a last resort and not in and of itself the answer to the problem."