Misconception #57: Children who fail need to repeat classes

One form of criticism frequently aimed at the schools relies on the idea that the schools are too afraid of the negative consequences of holding back a child. They insist that if a child fails a class, that class needs to be repeated.


In some ways, this makes sense. In our linear schools, a student who does not grasp lessons in an earlier class will likely struggle when they move up. Of course, the timing of when a student has done well enough to move on should not be so rigid.

In the most strict linear schooling environments, struggling only at the end of a class can cause struggles in the following year. What are we supposed to do with them? Do we force them to repeat an entire year even though they already completed most of it successfully or do we put them in an environment where they are likely to struggle? Neither option is ideal.

Even if a school provides some flexibility (never an adequate amount), you will run into problems. What a student needs to revisit can be highly variable. The idea that kids need to repeat entire classes just because they struggled the last time shows that the schools are not adequately accommodating individual needs.

Of course, there is an even bigger problem with forcing students to repeat a class. This entire argument is based on the flawed assumption that children only fail because they did not learn all of the required material. There are definitely other reasons.

When I was in school, I failed my first semester of sophomore English. I had so many problems with my teacher that I had to request a mid-year switch to another teacher. I passed that second semester. Keeping in mind the linearity of the schools, my problem was not due to my inability to grasp the required learning. At the end of the year, I was asked to repeat sophomore English.

My problems weren't only due to issues with my teacher. Every year since kindergarten, I heard the same thing, "A noun is a person, place, or thing." I was struggling with the excessive repetition and the lack of progress.

Let me emphasize something I just said. One possible reason a student can fail is because he can no longer handle the repetition. In these cases, forcing that child to repeat the class won't fix a thing. In fact, the increased repetition can cause things to spiral out of control. Think about this for a moment. If a child is struggling with excessive repetition, do you really think that repeating a class will solve his problems?