Retention is a definitive consequence for not meeting that standard.

When parents know a child may not move on to fourth grade, that may help motivate them to do more at home. By third grade most students don’t want to be held back, which could encourage them to work harder, too.

A consequence for not being able to read. That's the Register's line. If kids can't read they need a consequence.

In too many classrooms, work is assigned, handed in, receives a grade … and any opportunity to engage students in thinking about and learning from their work is lost. In a classroom devoted to meaningful, timely, and effective feedback, and to assessment for learning, not mere assessment of learning, we engage students in conversations that provide them with the support and guidance they need to be successful. These conversations and the feedback we give also provide us — the teachers — with valuable information on how well we’re reaching and supporting the learners in our classrooms. And yet, in many classrooms around the world, assessment for learning is just not present, which begs an important question: what’s stopping us from providing this kind of ongoing and meaningful support to our students? Why is it so challenging to implement?

Here's the comment I left:

It's hard because it's time consuming but also because it's honest.

It's hard to find the time to provide feedback to students when we're also using that information to group and reteach, etc.

It's hard to be honest with a 6th grade writer whose writing just isn't interesting. Their grammar and spelling is fine, it's organized and supported, but it's just not interesting to read. And that's hard to say to a student. Developmentally, 11- and 12-year-olds aren't able to separate their writing from themselves. So, when I tiptoe around the fact that their "A-" writing isn't any fun to read, what they hear is, "You are not interesting."

Another thing that makes it challenging is that -- for reasons I haven't quite figured out yet -- my students don't find it very beneficial. For every essay my students turn in, I record 3-5 minutes of audio feedback and send it to them on Edmodo. I ask questions, I give suggestions, I point out specifics, I give praise, I point out the context of improvements ("You've really been working hard in class lately"). But I rarely hear anything from students and even more rarely do they take the feedback into account and revise.

That's not to say it can't or shouldn't be done. It can and should (and does). But that's why it's hard for me.

What if students went to "regular" classes only in the morning (say 9 am - 12 pm, because certainly we wouldn't have teenagers start at 7:21 am in any logical universe). Then after lunch (I'd suggest more than 30 minutes, think about all the great discussions you have at conferences outside of the sessions), what if students were able to explore something they were passionate about more in-depth? Maybe that's a small class of students interested in the same thing working with a teacher or teachers. Or maybe that's an independent study. Or maybe an internship at a local business or place of learning. Or maybe something online. I don't know what exactly it looks like, but I think it's one (very rough) example of how we need to change our thinking about the possibilities of what school could look like.

I want this schedule so badly. I have talked to a few colleagues about essentially this idea in the past few weeks. I want to start pushing harder to have a conversation about our schedule.

Of course, fans of Khan Academy — which, to be fair, includes many teachers, parents and administrators — say that their students are engaged and performing better than ever. Still, this may be a false sense of security. The Khan Academy computer may conclude that students have learned math — the students, teachers and parents may, too — but all they will have really learned is how to game the system. Indeed, that’s all it asks them to do!

Revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new technologies - it happens when society adopts new behaviors.
- Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody, p. 160

I visit many schools that have 'new technologies,' but not enough of them also have 'new behaviors.' It's time for us educators to raise our game (leaders, I'm pointing to you first).

Let me be clear on this point, I am just as opposed to social promotion as I am to retention. Why? Both are products of the assumption that time is constant and that the best way to organize and educate is by batching same-age children together, taking them through a series of disconnected and prescribed content-based coursework, evaluating them via grades and age/time based tests and then either sending them back for re-work or moving them down the assembly line incomplete because it is "time" for them to move to the next set of curriculum.

Bottom line, administrators need to be in classrooms. These need to be authentic visits where they are a part of the learning going on. As George stated, the scheduled days and visits often turn into dog and pony shows because teachers and students know who is coming. It should be more fluid and part of the culture of the building. If teachers and students act differently when an administrator walks into a room there is something wrong. An administrator in a classroom should not be like a yeti sighting, but just par for the course. As many of the comments already stated, it is not a reality of an administrator’s job to be in classrooms every day or even for full days at a time. With that in mind, how many make excuses for not being “out there” more?

I hope those that do participate in this no office day, realize that it is one day and in no way should be a celebrated event. It should be a step towards more involvement in classrooms in their schools. If a day like this is what it takes, that’s great. However, I caution against days that try to celebrate something that should be expected. I don’t make a unique day for good behavior in my class…because it is an expectation and part of my classroom culture. My question would be what is the culture in your building and what is part of business of usual?

When the student in class who has resisted your every attempt at reaching him and teaching him shows a glimmer of interest in what you have to say, you don’t turn around and say, “You know what, I’m going to head to the Teachers Lounge and talk about what a horrible job you’ve been doing. You’re welcome to come listen in. Then, we’ll come back, and I’ll teach you.”
You teach. You teach in any moment you are given.
Ours is a profession of taking breaks where we can get them.
Not only that, you collecting every shred of data you can.
“Yes, we would love to meet with you. We are going to bring a couple of our top bloggers with us to make sure we document what happens so we can share it with all stakeholders We believe in a transparent process.”
Then, go to the rally and issue your own press release to the assembled thousands relaying exactly what happened, what was said and what plans have been made going forward.
Instead of seeing the offered meeting with the White House and making the case at today’s rally as mutually exclusive events, the chance and win lies in seeing the events as mutually beneficial

In the case of standards, quantity is not quality. The irony of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shouts at us: Although U.S. mathematics textbooks attempt to address 175 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 350 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in mathematics. Similarly, although U.S. science textbooks attempt to cover 930 percent more topics than do German textbooks and 433 percent more topics than do Japanese textbooks, both German and Japanese students significantly outperform U.S. students in science achievement as well (Schmidt, McKnight, & Raizen, 1996).

Clearly, U.S. schools would benefit from decreasing the amount of content they try to cover. And teacher morale and self-efficacy improve when we confidently lay out a more manageable number of essential topics to be taught and assessed in greater depth.

@Scott wrote, “That said, I also want my kids and yours to be able to get a job.”