Redoublement

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3226,36-390383,0.html

Studies show that holding children back to repeat a year during which they have performed badly is of no benefit whatsoever... but the practice is likely to remain at least as popular as at present, if not more so, for the forseeable future.

[Mistral]

I wrote a very long reply and then got timed out (no way did i take 40 mins to type it) Here's what I remember.

We keep being told that redoublement doesn't work. Obviously it suits the government to have as few redoublants as possible. they cost more.

The problem in France is that every year has a set curriculum and if a child hasn't managed to complete this, then they are probably going to have trouble managing the following year. Back in the bad old day, it was easy. They retook the year in the hope that an extra year would resolve everything. Whether or not it would be useful or effective wasn't taken into acount.

For the last few years, we have been very strongly encouraged to think about the usefulness and probable effectiveness of a redoublement before suggesting it. 

The question is what effectiveness we are looking for. Most studies seem to looking for proof that an extra year will turn a child into a genius. Most pupils and their families just hope for an improvement, not a miracle. In fact the first paragraph of the article is a good example " studies show that pupils who retake the CP don't do as well as those who go straight up"  Retaking the CP is quite rare and it is generally suggested when a child hasn't learnt to read after a year's worth of teaching. For a lot of these children, an extra year isn't going to be enough, they probably need more help than that. But since the system doesn't offer anything else, I think that at least letting them try again for a year, especially at that age, is the least we can do. Otherwise what are they going to do in CE1, without extra help and having to learn grammar as well?

As you have probably guessed, I'm pro redoublement. It shocked me and I was quite negative when I first moved out here but I have seen enough successes to believe in it. I've seen failures too, but most are when the school didn't think it through and suggested redoublement as a knee jerk reaction, or when the child or family didn't accept it.

Redoublement works well for pupils who are of average plus intelligence with no particular problems. It gives them an extra year to get their act together, think things through and get down to work. At least we no longer (or at lot less) force pupils who just haven't got what it takes to stay in collège until they are old enough to vote without actually improving their results. Unfortunately we don't have any other options for these pupils. I think the government would do better to look seriously at these pupils and try to find workable methods of helping them because at the moment we are failing them (understatement of the year)

[Battypuss]

My youngest daughter (who is far from stupid and who has been in the French scholastic system all her life) was continually threatened with redoublement - by the teacher, not me- from the very start of CM1. It was made to sound an awful thing to happen, this being a private school and she became totally discouraged and depressed. I took her out of that school at Easter. Amazingly, at the new one, with the same curriculum but a different teacher, she learned all the things she apparently did not know (or rather knew perfectly well, just wasn't telling anyone) before the end of the year and passed into CM2 with flying colours. She currently near the top of the class, despite having to stay home here for a month with a broken ankle!

I seriously think that some children benefit from redoublement as it gives them more time to assimilate the bits they forgot/missed/didn't understand/refused to divulge. Private coaching here costs an average of 27€ an hour, for 27 hours per week. Try paying that for a month; even if you are insured the tutors still want the money first before they tutor. Don't blame them either. I am also unconvinced that tutoring is beneficial in the long run as the child can sit in class and tune out on the grounds that the tutor will go through the whole thing again at home...

2 of my middle daughters friends were held back a year, they succeeded 2nd time round. On the other hand, there's a child in our block who redoubled CP, Cm1, 6ième and is currently having a second stab at 4iéme. She's now nearly 17 and couldn't give a toss any more. For those who don't understand the French school system, classes at College start in 6ieme and go in decreasing, rather than increasing numbers. So my 11 year old is in 6ieme.

[Richardbk]

The reason redoublement will  stay is it suites the teachers and the system. The system in France is basically prescriptive rote learning so  few teachers have little real teaching skills - they are simply there to ram kids full of facts. If the child can keep up, all well and good, but for those that slip below average it is a much easier option to simply put them back a year, rather than apply a little extra effort.

As the study has found there is nothing to be got from most redoublements except depressed and demotivated kids - the end results of the French education system says it all

regs

Richard

[Val_2]

Well I am convinced it helped both my kids back in primaire especially with their language skills and catching up on what they should have known since CP. HOwever I don't think there is any benefit after primaire especially in collège as the teachers still have to get their work done and special help just dosn't seem to exist here unless you go privately.