|
August 5, 1999 New Education Laws Dear Reader: As the last days of August signal the end of summer and stores begin to stock their shelves with pencils, paper and notebooks, we are reminded once again that a new school year fast approaches. This time of year also finds parents and teachers renewing their commitment to help students do well in school. Educating Missouri`s children is an important commitment for state lawmakers as well. This past session the General Assembly approved a major education bill (HB 889) that includes several measures to help students find success in school. Provisions of the bill addressing social promotion and summer school for children ready to enter kindergarten should ultimately benefit thousands of students across the state. These new laws will help prepare Missouri students for kindergarten and beyond. For decades, educators have grappled with the promotion issue. It`s not a problem for students who have mastered all or most of the skills they should be learning at each grade level and can successfully move on to the next grade, but for students who have difficulties learning the things they need to know and who will probably continue to struggle in the next grade, the issue is much more complicated. For years, schools retain such students with the belief that having them repeat the grade would solve the problem. Sometimes it did, but too often it didn`t. Students may learn what they need to know the second time around in the same grade, but educators also found that retaining children created other problems stemming from older students being in the same classroom with younger ones. As a result, students were sometimes sent on to the next grade with the hope that keeping them with classmates of the same age would be better for them in the long run--a practice called social promotion. Often their academic skills were not brought up to an acceptable level, and the end of the school year would find them still struggling far behind their classmates. The new legislation approved this session allows schools to adopt promotion policies that require additional instruction, such as summer school, in order for a student to go on to the next grade. The law also states that students reading more than one grade level below their current grade cannot be promoted unless they are receiving special education service. Schools are also directed to recognize in their promotion policies that students learn in many different ways and that remediation programs should include different types of teaching methods. Many of Missouri`s schools already incorporate various types of teaching methods in their curriculum, but this new law should encourage more schools to focus on their students` learning needs. This legislation should achieve two important goals: helping students learn what they need to know before they move on to the next grade and allowing them to remain in class with their peers. Another provision in the education bill passed this year will allow students to attend summer school before beginning kindergarten. This will give children an opportunity to become familiar with the school and classroom environment before their first day in kindergarten. This early introduction to life as a student will help lesson those first-day-of-school jitters and help children get a head start on mastering the skills they need to learn during their kindergarten year. These new education laws should help our state`s students get off to the right start in school and be ready for all the new challenges and opportunities the next grade will bring. Rep. Jim Kreider | |||||
Paid for by Kreider for Senator.
Bobby Neal Jr., Treasurer. Not at taxpayer's expense.
Back To Main Press Release Menu