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We have got to stop tying students' grade level to their age. As long as we "pass" kids to the next grade level without them mastering the basics of the one they are in, they will end up being discouraged by their inability to catch up. Starting in elementary school, kids should be grouped by ability and understanding and only move forward when they have a solid understanding of the material. We have a high school student in a geometry class who never mastered basic math and now we are spending a lot of money on a private tutor to get him even close to passing the class. The high school is useless in getting him the instruction he should have gotten two years ago.

posted 4 years ago
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