A recently published story shows that the practice of social promotion is rampant in Missouri public schools.  Social promotion is the passing of students on to the next grade just to keep them “on track” regardless of the student’s comprehension of the classes for that grade.

This fact comes to light with recent findings that almost 40% of Missouri graduates going to Missouri universities need remedial classes that do not count toward their degrees.  Below is an excerpt from the story:

More than 40 percent of area public high school graduates in 2009 entered Missouri colleges and universities so far behind in reading and math that they took at least one remedial course once they arrived on campus, data show.

Of the 7,067 area graduates who enrolled that year as freshmen in state-funded schools, 3,029 of them landed in academic purgatory, taking catch-up classes that didn’t count toward a college degree, according to the Missouri Department of Higher Education

It is time for the state legislature to step in and pass legislation that will end the practice of social promotion.  At a minimum, students should be reading on grade level to move forward to the next grade.

Anything short of giving students, and their families, an accurate measurement of where they stand academically is setting that student up for long term failure.  How can a kid who graduates high school with an elementary school level reading or math ability move onto college or find gainful employment?

Sadly, this is not just a Missouri problem.  The story also goes on to say:

Nationally, about 1.3 million students are taking remedial courses at public two-year and four-year institutions at a cost of at least $2.3 billion, according to a 2008 report by Strong American Schools, a nonprofit financed in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The time is here both in Missouri, and nationally, to end the practice of social promotion.  Passing on kids to the next grade just to move them through the system is setting millions of Missouri’s children up for failure.

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