Does the student respond to differentiated instruction? If he is bored and has been doing the same assignments for several years, it would be a little unnerving to have to repeat again--which could discourage him from having to repeat again, but you never know. Regardless, I would try to differentiate instruction to the best of your ability. Alternatively, getting a school counselor involved may be beneficial to figure out why he has so little desire to move on from seventh grade. Does it have to do with the divorce of his parents and not wanting anymore change, etc.?

This is a tough one. Perhaps building on the skills and concepts that the student has grasped, and seeing if he would want to teach a group of students or one on one. Trying to make him and let him see himself as a leader and someone the other students can look up to.

Honestly, at this point I would talk to this student about either virtual school and grade recovery. I would ask this student what he wants. At this point it is all his decision. There is only so much we as teachers can do for our students. We can encourage and cheer, but in the end its all the students responsibility.

It sounds like there is not much support from the father and he does not care if his son does well, so why should the son care if he does? i would try to encourage the student and provide that support that is obviously lacking in their life. Perhaps providing a reward system for completed work could be helpful. Maybe, at first, just grading the work on completeness instead of accuracy and then moving into that when the student is consistently turning in assignments.

I think getting dad, student, teacher and a counselor together to discuss what actions need to take place is the next step. See if the students isn't doing the work because he's depressed from the divorce or whichever reason and what he would be willing to do.

You can only do so much! If a student does not care about being 16 in the 7th grade then you cant stress yourself about it. Just try to teach him to the best of your ability. He may not be doing the assignments because he doesn't know how and does not want to look stupid attempting. So maybe try to differentiate instruction a little for him and find activities that peak his interest.

This is very sad, truthfully a failure of our system. As a teacher get as many people involved as possible, counseling, specialists, proior teachers. His self esteem must be low . He needs a lot from you and others