Dr. Campbell, thanks for sharing the research with our school system in Thursday’s paper. Please share the following research with the VWSD, “Kindergarten retention fails to help academic achievement.” Parents in the district are complaining about the alarming number of kindergarteners being retained this year. Retention in kindergarten is a teacher placement problem. Curriculum for this age group should be phonemic awareness and phonics. Teachers of kindergarten should be skilled in teaching the English language (Language Arts) via sounds to new learners. A well-structured Kindergarten program will do more to impact our graduation rate than anything else. Thanks for the cell phone in the classroom innovation, which was past due.

Patsy Gibbs, M.Ed.
Retired Literacy Specialist and Teacher of the Gifted