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Third-grade retention and reading achievement in Texas: A nine year panel study
... Grade retention could be defined as a practice of requiring a student to repeat a particular grade when he or she doesn't meet the academic standards of his/her current grade level. The argument underlying this remedial practice is to provide low-achieving students with an additional opportunity to improve their achievement and meet those standards (Owings and Magliaro, 1998;Lorence, 2006Lorence, , 2014Chen et al., 2010). ...
... However, the efficacy of this practice is controversial due to contradictory research findings on the benefits vs. the harmful effects of grade retention. Some research points to the benefits of grade retention for student achievement (e.g., Allen et al., 2009;Lorence, 2014) while other research states that holding students back a year does not improve or can even be detrimental to their academic outcomes (e.g., Jimerson et al., 1997;Jimerson, 2001;Wu et al., 2008b;Chen et al., 2010;Moser et al., 2012). ...
... This lack of consistency is mainly a result of the different justifications and forms of implementation of the practice and is also due to methodological and measurement problems and sample characteristics of the studies (Jimerson et al., 1997;Jimerson, 1999Jimerson, , 2001Lorence, 2006Lorence, , 2014Allen et al., 2009). To illustrate these inconsistencies, Lorence (2014), using a sample of 38.000 students from third to tenth grades, found that students retained in third grade outperformed their classmates who had been socially promoted (i.e., those students who had failed to meet the academic standards of their grade level but still advanced to the next grade level) in later grades. ...
Keeping students back in the same grade – retention – has always been a controversial issue in Education, with some defending it as a beneficial remedial practice and others arguing against its detrimental effects. This paper undertakes an analysis of this issue, focusing on the differences in student motivation and self-related variables according to their retention related status, and the interrelationship between retention and these variables. The participants were 695 students selected from two cohorts (5th and 7th graders) of a larger group of students followed over a 3-year project. The students were assigned to four groups according to their retention-related status over time: (1) students with past and recent retention; (2) students with past but no recent retention; (3) students with no past but recent retention; (4) students with no past or recent retention. Measures of achievement goal orientations, self-concept, self-esteem, importance given to school subjects and Grade Point Average (GPA) were collected for all students. Repeated measures MANCOVA analyses were carried out showing group differences in self-esteem, academic self-concept, importance attributed to academic competencies, task and avoidance orientation and academic achievement. To attain a deeper understanding of these results and to identify profiles across variables, a cluster analysis based on achievement goals was conducted and four clusters were identified. Students who were retained at the end of the school year are mainly represented in clusters with less adaptive motivational profiles and almost absent from clusters exhibiting more adaptive ones. Findings highlight that retention leaves a significant mark that remains even when students recover academic achievement and retention is in the distant past. This is reflected in the low academic self-concept as well as in the devaluation of academic competencies and in the avoidance orientation which, taken together, can undermine students’ academic adjustment and turn retention into a risk factor.
... Retention is mainly used as a remedial measure. Experts sometimes argue that students with learning difficulties should be protected from overly demanding curricula and given extra time to catch up and develop emotional and cognitive maturity before advancing to the next grade (Shepard and Smith, 1989), while automatic promotion might cause frustration and eventually result in further failure (Lorence, 2014). Arguments against grade retention refer to the stigma attached to school failure, which can lead to demotivation, loss of self-esteem and academic self-concept, thus generating psychological costs that can further hinder school engagement (Shepard and Smith, 1989) and 'leave scars' on educational careers (Andrew, 2014). ...
... However, the validity of the matching strategy depends on data availability, both in terms of sample size (a large N is needed) and richness of the information, as the matching model should include all possible confounders at the individual and school levels. 1 A few studies used matching to examine the effects of grade repetition in primary school, reporting short-term positive effects on achievement in French-speaking Belgium (Goos et al., 2013) and Portugal (Nunes, Balcao Reis and Seabra, 2018). Instead, three studies from the same US context reached contrasting conclusions (Lorence, 2014;Hughes et al., 2017;Wu, West, and Hughes, 2008). Other studies relied on matching strategies to analyze the effect of later-grade repetition, mostly reporting null or negative effects. ...
This article analyzes the effect of grade retention in high school on later school outcomes in Italy. Grade retention is a strong signal of poor performance, so retained students should revise downwards their perceived probability of success in school. Grade retention also implies an increase in costs. Therefore, we expect a negative effect on future educational careers. However, the evidence from the existing literature is mixed. Using longitudinal administrative data, we propose a matching strategy to assess the impact of grade retention on institutional settings with considerable leeway in promotion/retention decisions. Following this strategy, we can interpret our results as estimates of the impact for students close to the threshold between retention and promotion. Our results add to the existing evidence that grade retention in high school has a negative impact on student’s educational outcomes by dramatically increasing dropout rates. Consistent with the compensatory advantage hypothesis, the negative effects are stronger for students with low educated or immigrant parents. Our findings suggest that alternatives to grade retention should be found to address underachievement.
... In terms of empirical evidence, many studies do find positive short-term learning effects during the retention year (Goos et al., 2013a;Jimerson, 2001a). Both Lorence (2014) and Schwerdt and colleagues (2017) found positive effects of grade retention on reading skills. ...
... Nonetheless, there is no consensus if retention yields long-term benefits that could offset those opportunity costs and, if so, under which conditions (Jimerson, 2001a;Schwerdt et al., 2017). Although positive effects on reading skills of retainees have been found (Lorence, 2014;Schwerdt et al., 2017), most studies consider grade retention to be rather ineffective in terms of improving cognitive outcomes (Bonvin et al., 2008;Eide and Showalter, 2001;Jimerson, 2001a). A meta-analysis of Allen and colleagues (2009) reports that studies reporting marginal or no significant effects at all seem to have the most rigorous methodological basis, in contrast to research showing profound negative cognitive effects. ...
... Apesar do acúmulo de evidências empíricas internacionais durante a década de 80 e 90 sobre os efeitos negativos da repetência sobre performance acadêmica no curto prazo, pesquisas mais recentes tem ques-tionado o consenso desses efeitos negativos baseado em limitações metodológicas (ALLEN et al., 2009;JACOB;LEFGREN, 2004;LORENCE, 2014). Allen et al. (2009) fazem uma meta-análise sobre a qualidade da metodologia de 22 artigos publicados entre 1990 e 2007 baseado nos grupos de controle utilizados para comparação e nas variáveis de controle incluídas nas estimações. ...
... Os efeitos são, inclusive, decrescentes: eles são maiores no primeiro ano logo após a repetência e menores dois anos depois. Lorence (2014), combinando propensity score matching com um modelo multinível, também encontra efeito positivo de repetir na 3 a série sobre a performance em notas de inglês (leitura) para alunos do Texas entre 1994 e 2002. Embora os efeitos tenham um queda ao longo do tempo, eles perduram da 4 a até a 10 a série. ...
O Brasil ainda possui uma das mais altas taxas de repetência do mundo. Apesar dessas taxas implicarem altos custos para os sistemas de ensino, seus efeitos sobre os resultados dos estudantes ainda estão sob debate. O objetivo deste artigo é informar esse debate analisando os efeitos da repetência no final do ciclo de alfabetização sobre os resultados escolares nos anos subsequentes, como proficiência acadêmica, reprovação e evasão.
... Approximately 19 states in the United States require or allow retention when third graders are not reading proficiently (Workman, 2014). Although repeating the grade is believed to improve students' reading abilities relative to socially promoted peers who also were struggling with reading (Lorence, 2014;Winters & Greene, 2012), the practice is associated with higher risk of dropout (Andrew, 2014) and disproportionally affects racial and ethnic minority students (Greene & Winters, 2009). ...
... Schools have to make difficult choices about what they can offer students that will comply with federal and state mandates while giving every opportunity for students to experience success. Although grade retention is an option potentially associated with better reading outcomes (Lorence, 2014;Winters & Greene, 2012), our results suggest that it is less fiscally prudent than summer school. Moreover, our calculations did not take into account the social-emotional costs retained students might experience (Eide & Goldhaber, 2005). ...
This study investigated the costs of different summer reading programs and compared costs to the benefits of summer school as a way to avoid retaining students not reading proficiently at the end of third grade. Per pupil costs ranged from US2,194. The average cost was US266-US70.6 million and US4 in benefit for every dollar invested in summer programs.
... Some studies have found positive effects of grade retention on students' performance (Lorence, 2014;Mahjoub, 2017;Schwerdt et al., 2017). For instance, Schwerdt et al. (2017) used a regression discontinuity design to analyse the causal effect of third-grade retention on students' future outcomes up to 6 years later in Florida public schools. ...
Grade retention is at the core of the education debate in Spain, to the extent that its impact on students' competences has not been assessed beyond correlation. Because of that, in the present study, we analyse the influence of grade retention on students' competences, using more than 146,000 students from 6 PISA cycles (2003–2018) and an instrumental variable approach, in order to approach a causal influence. Our results show that repeating a grade in Spain seems to reduce students' competences between 1.5 and 1.7 standard deviations. Based on these results, we conclude that the Spanish educational authorities should find an alternative to grade retention, in order to prevent students from attaining a lower competence level due to repetition.
... The bulk of research is based on regional studies. For example, in one study conducted in Texas-examining the 38,000 third graders who did not pass the 1994 Texas state standardized reading test-researchers found that children who were retained in third grade performed better academically through high school (Lorence, 2014;Lorence & Dworkin, 2006). However, a later study in Texas showed more nuance. ...
Many U.S. schools utilize grade retention (repeating grades when not meeting academic benchmarks) to allow more time for students to learn grade level material. However, some research suggests retention may increase inequalities and not help students progress. We use national data (Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study 2014–2017) and logistic regression to examine what predicts the likelihood of elementary school retention and whether retention is associated with long term outcomes. We find that race and family income did not predict who was most likely to be retained. As expected, boys were more likely to be retained than girls. Most importantly, we show that, of students in major metropolitan areas, retention did not predict long-term academic outcomes (regardless of race, sex, or familial income). Retention did predict long-term exclusionary discipline outcomes for Black students only supporting the School to Prison Pipeline framework.
... Overall, most recent studies seem to show that grade retention has a negative effect on repeaters' academic achievement and a positive effect on repeaters' psychosocial functioning, accumulating altogether in a negative effect on repeaters' school career (Goos et al., 2021;Valbuena et al., 2020), the FIRST-GRADE RETENTION AND REPEATERS' SCHOOL CAREER 5 focus of this study. Looking in more detail at effects of grade retention on repeaters' school career, recent studies (Afsa, 2011;Allensworth, 2005;André, 2009;Andrew, 2014;Belot & Vandenberghe, 2014;Cockx, Picchio, & Baert, 2019;Eide & Showalter, 2001;Eren, Depew, & Barnes, 2017;Gary-Bobo, Gousse, & Robin, 2016;Geng & Rockoff, 2017;Glick & Sahn, 2010;Goos, Van Damme, Onghena, Petry, & de Bilde, 2013;Hughes, Cao, West, Smith, & Cerda, 2017;Hughes, West, Kim, & Bauer, 2017;Jacob & Lefgren, 2009;Koppensteiner, 2014;Leighton, Souza, & Straub, 2019;Lorence, 2014;Mahjoub, 2017;Manacorda, 2012;Martorell & Mariano, 2017;Mendez, Kim, Ferron, & Woods, 2015;Moser, West, & Hughes, 2012;Okurut, 2018;Ou & Reynolds, 2010;Ozek, 2015;Peterson & Hughes, 2011;Schwerdt, West, & Winters, 2017;Solis, 2018;Uysal, 2010) seem to indicate that repeaters, overall, as compared to similar non-repeaters, have a higher chance of placement in special education, track downgrading, school absences, school suspensions, school drop-out, non-entry into tertiary education, low income, public aid receipt, etcetera, with effect sizes differing, however, considerably across study characteristics (see Goos et al., 2021, online Appendix A). ...
Research on grade retention effectiveness has a long history, going back to as early as 1908. Since 2000, and especially since 2010, many new, methodologically sophisticated studies have been conducted on this topic, in a variety of countries across the world, showing grade retention to have a negative effect on repeaters' academic achievement and a positive effect on repeaters' psychosocial functioning. Less is known about how these effects accumulate over time, and how these effects influence repeaters' later school career, especially outside the US. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of first-grade retention on repeaters' school career until age 17, among students in Flanders.
... By contrast, low socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and parental separation may increase the likelihood of academic underachievement [13][14][15] . Finally, grade retention, a standard international practice for dealing with struggling students, have yielded controversial results, with both positive and negative effects on children's subsequent academic and psychosocial adjustment [16][17][18][19] . Indeed, although this corrective measure is supposed to give children a chance to mature and review the educational objectives that were not met during the failed academic year, the preponderance of evidence suggests that academic-related benefits of grade retention, if detected, are limited and tend to diminish over time. ...
Psychiatric symptoms have consistently been associated with negative educational outcomes. However, possible confounding variables, such as comorbid mental and environmental conditions, have not been well addressed. This study examined whether mental health problems were significantly linked to academic performance in a Spanish school-based sample, after adjustment for co-occurring psychiatric symptoms and multiple contextual factors. Parents completed a questionnaire regarding child’s sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., gender, age, type of school, socioeconomic status, ethnicity), stressful events (i.e., adoption, parental divorce/separation, grade retention) and lifestyle (i.e., diet, sleep, screen time), along with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Academic performance was obtained from school records. The sample comprised 7036 students aged 5–17 with full data on the CBCL. Mixed-effects ordinal logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate the association between psychopathology and academic achievement, controlling for potential confounders. When examined separately, higher scores on the CBCL scales were related to lower grades, regardless of sociodemographic factors. However, after controlling for the presence of other psychiatric symptoms, we found that students who reported more anxious/depressed and thought problems were less likely to perform poorly, while those with increased levels of attention problems and delinquent behavior had higher risk for academic underachievement. These associations remained mainly the same once stressful events and lifestyle were taken into account. This investigation demonstrates that anxious/depressed symptoms, thought problems, attention problems, and delinquent behavior are independently associated with academic performance, which emphasize the need for preventive and treatment interventions targeted at students’ mental health to improve their psychological well-being and functioning at school.
... However, the sanction included in many of these policies-retention-is bolstered only by mixed evidence. Research on retention policies in Chicago, New York, and Florida that uses clearly defined retention criteria to create credible control groups has shown that these policies can improve students' reading achievement in the short term (Greene & Winters, 2004, 2006, 2007Jacob & Lefgren, 2004Lorence et al., 2002;Lorence, 2014;Mariano & Martorell, 2013;Roderick et al., 2002;Roderick & Nagaoka, 2005;Schwerdt et al., 2017;Strunk et al., 2021). However, other research has shown that the positive achievement effects of these policies fade over time (Winters & Greene, 2012), or have no effect at all (Weiss et al., 2018). ...
In recent years, many states have adopted policies to ensure students are reading proficiently by third grade. This kind of policy transfer across states is not a unique phenomenon; researchers have documented analogous proliferations of similar policies both in and outside the field of education. However, there has been little attention paid to how policy transfer happens in K-12 education policy, particularly at the state level. To better understand how education policies spread across states, we turn to the case of Michigan’s Read by Grade Three Law, which was adopted in 2016. Guided by the Multiple Streams Framework and the theory of policy transfer, we trace the policy process surrounding the Law’s conception, development, and passage, relying on data from semi-structured interviews from 24 stakeholders involved in the development of the Law and supported by policy documents from all 50 states and D.C. We find that events in the problem and political streams opened a policy window that allowed for the passage of the Law. These findings contribute to policymakers’ and other stakeholders’ understandings of the development and passage of third-grade literacy policies—information that will be important as these policies continue to receive national attention in both the policy and research communities. Moreover, this study is one of few to focus on the critical role of policy entrepreneurs in joining together the multiple streams, while also providing a nuanced view of how policy transfer and policy entrepreneurship promote the convergence of ideas and solutions to particular problems.
... See, for instance,Cockx et al. (2019) ,García-Pérez et al. (2014) ,Goos et al. (2013) ,Jimerson (2001) andLorence (2014) for evidence on the effect of grade retention on academic achievement in the subsequent school year(s);Cockx et al. (2019) ,Eide and Showalter (2001) , Jacob and Lefgren (2009) ,Manacorda (2012) ,Roderick (1994) andStearns et al. (2007) for its effect on school drop-out rates; and Fine and Davis(2003)andOu and Reynolds (2010) for its effect on higher education enrolment. See also the meta-analyses inAllen et al. (2009) , Holmes andMatthews (1984) ,Jimerson (2001) andXia and Kirby (2009) .3 ...
This article contributes to the nascent literature on the effect of grade retention in school on later labor market success. A field experiment is conducted to rule out the endogeneity of both outcomes. More concretely, various treatments of grade retention are randomly assigned to fictitious résumés sent in application to real vacancies. Overall, grade retention does not significantly affect positive call-back by employers. However, when narrowing in on vacancies for occupations where on-the-job training is important, job candidates with a record of grade retention are 16% less likely to receive a positive reaction. This finding is consistent with Queuing theory.
... This educational outcome could be another source of discrimination. Evidence demonstrates that grade repetition is not adequate for most students; in some cases, it could worsen the student's subsequent academic achievement instead of improving it (Lorence, 2014). Besides, repeaters' self-esteem could be negatively affected because of their age difference with their same-grade peers (Kamal & Bener, 2009). ...
Using 2015 data of the Colombia Demographic and Health Survey, we investigated the incidence of belonging to a household with an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) on the likelihood of grade retention by sex. Particularly, a bivariate logistic regression was used to identify the correlation between families with IDP and children’s gender on the probability of repeating a school year. Boys’ were negatively affec-ted when they live in an IDP household. Also, boys had a higher like-lihood of repeating a grade. We need to know how to act upon the social determinants that create social gaps and disadvantages across IDP, but also, to align with Sustainable Development Goals to elimi-nate gender inequalities.
... Students who are retained early (such as in third grade) are more successful compared to students who are socially promoted (Lorence 2014;Cham et al. 2015). They not only have substantial short-term gains in math and reading achievement but the probability of being retained in later grades is decreased (Schwerdt and West 2012) and it does not negatively affect their academic achievement or educational motivation in high school (Hughes et al. 2017). ...
The paper researches the practice of social promotion, where students who fail due to a lack of comprehension of grade level material are promoted along with their classmates who passed. Student and parent interviews, student surveys, and data from students’ graduation records are used to determine that social promotion does not improve the students’ education, instead students who are socially promoted are more likely to dropout of high school, less likely to graduate high school on time or at all, and the alternative practices are needed if students are to be successful and graduate high school.
... Promoting students without learning has several long-term effects to the student and impact to the country as a whole. Promoting students without learning results into higher dropout rate in later years (King et al., 1999) while other studies says differently (Jimerson, 2001;Jacob & Lifgren, 2009;Lorence, 2014). Rewards for performance often are forces that encourage schools heads to allow mass promotion despite the foreseen impact. ...
In a spiral approach, a student is introduced to the same topics several years in a row, advancing them slightly on each pass; with topics arranged from the simplest to more complex. The broken spiral on the other hand is the case where students were unable to gain mastery of the previous topics and are introduced to a more complex new topic. This paper examined that case using 66 10th graders subjected to a mathematics aptitude test. Interview with 9 teachers in Junior High was also performed to identify factors contributing to the students' performance. A literature review was also undertaken to support the concept of a broken spiral. The study revealed that the expected benefit of the spiral progression approach could never be attained in the current promotion and retention practices of teachers. Teachers’ qualifications, resources, and training inadequacy to name a few are factors identified by them that prevent them from producing favourable outcomes.
We use event history analysis on an aggregate dataset from 1997 to 2018 to understand the state-level antecedents associated with the adoption of test-based grade retention policies. Findings indicate that the educational conditions of a state to be more predictive of retention policy adoption than the political, economic, and geographic measures. In particular, a greater share of Black students in a state, lower fourth grade NAEP reading proficiency rates, and larger student enrollments in the early grades were all associated with increased odds of grade retention policy adoption.
Retention in grade is one of the most persistently contentious issues in U.S. education policy. Though mandatory retention policies impact a child’s entire educational career, they are often based on reading scores and/or progress in reading development and justified by statistics related to reading achievement and the teaching of reading that suggest students who have not mastered early literacy skills by the third grade are unlikely to develop them, and that teachers who teach grades later than third are less likely to be able to provide effective remediation. This policy is therefore built on a set of assumptions about reading and the teaching of reading that leads some groups to view retention as a form of help, while others view it as harm. This commentary illustrates and explores that polarizing tension over time to understand its roots and its future from the perspective of a teacher, scholar, and activist.
Research on the effectiveness of grade retention has a long history, yet, has seen an upsurge during the last decade. In this study, we review 84 recent, methodologically sound studies estimating effects of retention in grades K-12 on repeaters’ and nonrepeaters’ development, in a variety of countries across the world, disentangling grade and age comparison results. Based on vote counting analysis and three-level metaregression analysis we find grade retention to have an average zero effect, indicating that repeaters and non-repeaters seem to show a similar development, on average. At the same time, we find grade retention effects to differ according to some specific effect and study characteristics. More specifically, grade retention seems less effective in countries applying a mixture of grade retention and tracking to tackle student heterogeneity, and when repeaters are compared with non-repeaters of the same age. Conversely, grade retention seems more effective in countries using strategies such as ability grouping, setting, and streaming to deal with student heterogeneity. Positive effects also seem to arise when studying students’ psychosocial functioning, when investigating short-run effects, when comparing repeaters with their younger non-retained grade-mates, and when evaluating effects via a regression discontinuity method.
Previous studies on the impact of grade retention on academic self‐concept suffer from inconclusive findings. There is no consensus if retention yields long‐term benefits that could offset its opportunity costs and, if so, under what conditions. Therefore, this article examines whether grade retention decreases academic self‐concept and whether this relationship is mediated by sense of belonging. Moreover, we aim to contextualise retention research by accounting for schools’ retention composition. Based on reference group theory, the effect of grade retention composition on academic self‐concept is expected to be twofold. Normative reference grouping leads to the assumption that students in high retention composition schools will exhibit lower levels of academic self‐concept, because retainees’ values are more likely to spread across all students within the same school. Comparative reference grouping might lead to a moderation effect of retention composition on the relationship between grade retention and academic self‐concept. Multilevel analyses on International Study of City Youth data, consisting of 2,354 students in 30 secondary schools in Ghent (Flanders), revealed a negative association between grade retention and academic self‐concept, which was mediated by sense of belonging. Students in high retention composition schools had a significantly lower academic self‐concept. The impact of being retained on academic self‐concept is not affected by the number of retainees within a given context. Implications are discussed.
The identification of the causal effects of grade retention policies is of enormous relevance for researchers and policymakers alike. Taking advantage of the availability of more detailed longitudinal datasets, researchers have been able to apply different identification strategies that address the classical problems of selection bias and unobserved heterogeneity that have plagued previous studies on the effect of retention. We present a systematic literature review of empirical studies aiming to unveil the causal effects of retention. This study underlines the need to consider and evaluate different kinds of grade retention polices as their effects vary depending on several dimensions (such as timing of the policy, comparison groups, length of the effects or institutional settings). According to the results of our review, we conclude that grade retention is unlikely to be an efficient policy as the costs associated to the policy can easily outweigh the potential (weak) benefits of retention. It is therefore necessary to consider alternative policies to retention, or policies that can be used in combination with it, in order to enhance the performance of low achievers, in particular those students at risk characterized by a low ability profile.
Abstract: Spain is the OECD country with the highest proportion of repeaters in secondary school (11%) and five times the average proportion of repeaters (2%) of OECD countries. The proportion of repeaters is higher in students who come from families with socioeconomic disadvantages and affects subsequent educational achievement. Through the suitability rates in Spain for the 2016-17 academic year, we observe that 6.4% of 8-year-old students and 10.3% of 10-year-olds are not enrolled in the course corresponding to these ages. There are approximately 32,000 8-year-old students and 50,000 10-year-old students. The repetition of the course generates school disaffection, reduces expectations of continuing with post-compulsory studies and ventures early school leaving in Spain which is, on the other hand, the highest in Europe in recent years (17.9% in 2018), a value far from the 10% set by the Union European for 2020. The Eurydice and Cedefop Report for the 2014 European Commission concluded that early school leaving is closely intertwined with social problems, which affects the most disadvantaged and that is closely linked to the repetition of the course. This article proposes inclusive educational policy actions that we believe attenuate the repetition of the course and are school and social integrators: to promote reading at an early age, especially in boys (repeat more than girls) and support schoolchildren to students born in the last four months of the calendar year. The proposals are derived from the main conclusions of the exploitation of the data of the macro-survey of students in the second year of compulsory secondary school in Spain in 2010 with 27,961 students.
Key Words: Primary and Secondary Compulsory Education. Repeater students. Early School Leaving. Inclusive Educational Policies. Gender.
This chapter explores an idea enchanting the educational world known as “differentiation.” When a teacher “differentiates” a lesson, she considers the different abilities, cultural histories, learning styles, and interests of all the students in the room. Johnny is a visual learner. Carlos has not yet mastered reading. Joyce likes to move around. On paper, differentiation is a great idea, but only so long as the intellectual range of the classroom is small and manageable. But teachers are often in situations where the abilities of their students vary by four, five, and six grade levels. With so many different ability levels to teach in the same room, instructors find it almost impossible to provide sustained, properly executed lessons for every child within a single class period. Differentiation is often used by the Administration to paper over serious deficiencies in students who have not acquired even a minimal proficiency of their prior grade level’s standards (or proficiency in the standards of the prior two, three, or four grade levels). In the end, differentiation as currently practiced forces teachers to do more with less and ultimately masks the extremely serious problem of too many underprepared students in a single room at once.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) include extreme economic hardship, abuse, neglect, household and family dysfunction, and exposure to community violence. Children with ACEs are at a higher risk of developing mental, physical, and developmental disorders that can lead to difficulty in school. Using the 2012 National Survey of Children's Health, we use multivariate logistic regression to examine the association between ACEs and grade retention and the moderating effects of race/ethnicity on this relationship. Results indicate that specific ACEs are related to higher rates of grade retention (economic hardship, parental incarceration, neighborhood violence, and witnessing domestic violence). Children reporting three or more ACEs were at a significantly higher risk of grade retention compared to children with zero reported ACEs. Further, patterns differed among black children in the sample with higher numbers of ACEs not increasing retention rates for black children compared to white children. This study improves our understanding of the relationship between ACEs and grade retention, but also raises questions about differing patterns among racially and ethnically diverse student populations that warrants further study.
Grade retention, the practice of requiring a student to remain in the same grade the following year, disproportionately affects students with sociodemographic risk and facing academic challenges. Each year, the United States spends $20 billion on retention and two million children are retained. Extant studies examining early elementary grade retention generally focus on short-term effects and academic outcomes; little is known about long-term effects on academic and psychosocial outcomes in the middle grades. The current study uses propensity score methods and a national data set to estimate the effect of first- or second-grade retention on academic achievement and psychosocial outcomes six or seven years later. By comparing students who were retained to students who were similar on observed characteristics but otherwise promoted, we generate causal estimates that show a statistically significant negative effect of retention on reading achievement. Significant and robust effects were not consistently detected for other academic or psychosocial outcomes. As grade retention is a widely used educational intervention, implications for its effectiveness from a policy and practice perspective are discussed.
World War II had many direct and indirect effects on America. Directly, it lead to an increased participation of women in the labor force, the emergence and sustainability of the Military-Industrial Complex, and helped bring America out of the Great Depression. Indirectly, it contributed to much social change: greater college attendance as GIs sought college attendance after the War, and thus created a market for more colleges and universities. Indeed, the three-pronged college system in California (the University of California, the California State System, and the Junior College system), was arguably, the residual effects of the War (see Jencks and Reisman 1968); the Civil Rights Movement was spurred by returning GIs who faced discrimination back in the USA after risking their lives for their country. By all accounts, the post WW II period was characterized by and impressive array of economic and social changes. All this would change right around 1970 when the US experienced a severe economic down turn.
Retaining a child at grade level has become increasingly popular, consistent with the emphasis on accountability and standards in elementary education. This article provides a comprehensive review of the research examining the academic and socioemotional outcomes associated with grade retention. Following a brief historical overview of previously published literature reviews, a summary of studies published between 1990 and 1999 is provided. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 recent studies includes: outcome variables (i.e., achievement and socioemotional adjustment), age or grade of retained population, matched or controlled for variables in analyses with comparison groups, and the overall conclusion regarding the efficacy of grade retention. Results of recent studies and this meta-analysis are consistent with past literature reviews from the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to a summary of the results, the discussion addresses the disparity between educational practice and converging research regarding grade retention and suggests directions for practice. This review encourages researchers, educational professionals, and legislators to abandon the debate regarding social promotion and grade retention in favor of a more productive course of action in the new millennium.
Educational researchers in the United States contend that making low-performing students repeat a grade is an ineffective educational practice. This view derives largely from the summary of grade retention research reported by Holmes (1989). A meta-analysis of more recent studies (Jimerson, 2001) also concludes that the practice of grade retention should be abandoned. However, a thorough examination of the published articles within each of these two meta-analyses reveals that many of the individual studies evidence inadequate research designs and faulty conclusions. The overwhelming majority of conclusions from grade retention studies are unwarranted due to the poor quality of research. Overlooked and more recent retention and grade repartition studies suggest that making students repeat a grade may help increase academic achievement. This review contends that research studies do not support the contention that grade retention is always inappropriate. Suggestions for improving future retention studies are offered. Grade retention, academic achievement, meta-analysis, faulty conclusions, inadequate research designs, grade repeating
Using interviews of students prior to and during their retained year and of their teachers, this study examined 22 students retained under Chicago's Ending Social Promotion policy. It focused on the "intervention" of retention, including how teachers shaped the retained year for students and the nature and quality of instructional strategies utilized. Students were most often exposed to the same material used in the previous year. Although access to remedial supports varied, students reported little guidance from teachers and generally did not change their learning strategies. However, students with high levels of instructional support who altered their learning strategies during the retained year were relatively more academically successful.
In 2002, Florida adopted a test-based promotion policy in the third grade in an attempt to end social promotion. Similar policies are currently operating in Texas, New York City, and Chicago and affect at least 17 percent of public school students nationwide. Using individual-level data on the universe of public school students in Florida, we analyze the impact of grade retention on student proficiency in reading one and two years after the retention decision. We use an instrumental variable (IV) approach made available by the relatively objective nature of Florida's policy. Our findings suggest that retained students slightly outperformed socially promoted students in reading in the first year after retention, and these gains increased substantially in the second year. Results were robust across two distinct IV comparisons: an across-year approach comparing students who were essentially separated by the year in which they happened to have been born, and a regression discontinuity design. © 2007 American Education Finance Association
We use a regression discontinuity strategy to produce causal estimates for the effect of remediation under Florida’s test-based promotion policy on multiple outcomes for up to five years after the intervention. Students subjected to the policy were retained in the third grade, were required to be assigned to a high-quality teacher during the retained year, and were required to attend summer school. Exposure to these interventions has a statistically significant and substantial positive effect on student achievement in math, reading, and science in the years immediately following the treatment. But the effect of the treatment dissipates over time. Nonetheless, we find that the effect of remediation under the policy on academic achievement is statistically significant and of a meaningful magnitude several years after the student is exposed to the intervention. Though we cannot completely separate the differential effects of the treatments attached to the policy, we provide some evidence that assignment to a higher-quality teacher in the retained year is not the primary driver of the policy’s effect. © 2012 Association for Education Finance and Policy
Although grade retention is widely practiced, it does not help children catch up or prevent school dropouts. In one study, children rated the prospect of flunking a grade as more stressful than wetting in class or being caught stealing. Remediation and other within-grade instructional efforts have a more positive success rate. Includes 16 references. (MLH)
A cohort of 2nd-grade students provided comparisons of academic and social competence based on school retention/promotion decisions. Sample groups were (a) retained, (b) at risk for retention, (c) special education, and (d) promoted. Findings suggested most children with academic deficiencies are identified by schools early and are sorted into educational treatments differing in intensity that represent a continuum of competence. The authors provide empirical evidence counter to the assumptions that retained students have the requisite ability to catch up and have more problem behaviors than other low-achieving students. The relevance of high-stakes test scores for promotion/retention decisions and the parallels between schools' implementation of retention policy and implementation of regulations for identifying children with disabilities are included in the discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Third- through 6th-grade retained students (
n = 74) were compared with random (
n = 60) and matched-ability (
n = 69) samples of nonretained students from their present classrooms and students from earlier classrooms who were socially promoted (
n = 35) when the retained students were held back. Retained students did not differ significantly from the comparison groups in perceptions of self-worth or peer relatedness but had significantly lower perceptions of cognitive competence than the random sample. Retained students did not perform as well academically as the random sample but performed just as well as the matched-ability sample and better than the socially promoted sample. The retained sample's effort grades were significantly lower than the random sample's but no different than those of the other samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The present study examines high school students with a prior history of grade retention (N = 38) compared to a matched control group of nonretained students. The retained students were lower on a number of scholastic variables (i.e., achievement, intelligence, grades), more often absent from school, and lower on three subscales of a self‐esteem measure (the Self‐Perception Profile for Adolescents). The authors explored the correlates of grade retained with the measured variables and found that the later a student was retained was associated with lower grades, less‐positive school attitudes, less time on homework, lower educational expectations, more discipline problems, lower self‐control, and a more external locus of control.
This study examined the relationship between extra‐year programs and later school achievement. Ninety‐five children were identified as being either retained in kindergarten, placed in a transition classroom, recommended for an extra‐year program but went into first grade, or as being in a control group of children who went from kindergarten to first grade without reservation. Results indicated that children retained in kindergarten performed significantly lower on a standardized achievement test than did children in the other three groups. Despite an extra year of schooling, children placed in transition classrooms did not differ significantly in their performance from children who were recommended for an extra year but went onto first grade and children in the control group.
Everyone is in favor of "high education standards" and "fair testing" of student achievement, but there is little agreement as to what these terms actually mean. High Stakes looks at how testing affects critical decisions for American students. As more and more tests are introduced into the country's schools, it becomes increasingly important to know how those tests are used--and misused--in assessing children's performance and achievements.High Stakes focuses on how testing is used in schools to make decisions about tracking and placement, promotion and retention, and awarding or withholding high school diplomas. This book sorts out the controversies that emerge when a test score can open or close gates on a student's educational pathway. The expert panel: Proposes how to judge the appropriateness of a test. Explores how to make tests reliable, valid, and fair. Puts forward strategies and practices to promote proper test use. Recommends how decisionmakers in education should--and should not--use test results. The book discusses common misuses of testing, their political and social context, what happens when test issues are taken to court, special student populations, social promotion, and more.High Stakes will be of interest to anyone concerned about the long-term implications for individual students of picking up that Number 2 pencil: policymakers, education administrators, test designers, teachers, and parents.
The propensity score is the conditional probability of assignment to a particular treatment given a vector of observed covariates. Previous theoretical arguments have shown that subclassification on the propensity score will balance all observed covariates. Subclassification on an estimated propensity score is illustrated, using observational data on treatments for coronary artery disease. Five subclasses defined by the estimated propensity score are constructed that balance 74 covariates, and thereby provide estimates of treatment effects using direct adjustment. These subclasses are applied within sub-populations, and model-based adjustments are then used to provide estimates of treatment effects within these sub-populations. Two appendixes address theoretical issues related to the application: the effectiveness of subclassification on the propensity score in removing bias, and balancing properties of propensity scores with incomplete data.
A common educational practice with a controversial history is requiring students to repeat a grade. School administrators and teachers often require failing students to repeat the same grade the next school year. Many educators assume that making academically-challenged students retake a grade will enable them to learn the mate rial they initially did not comprehend. Proponents of retention assume that, unless a student has learned the required material, allowing a child who failed a grade to advance to the next grade — the practice of social promotion — will cause the student considerable frustration and eventually will result in further failure. This reasoning also underlies the increasing demand by legislators, public officials, and business executives that students who fail state competency exams should be required to repeat a grade. Indeed, a major reason for greater educational accountability stand ards now required by state and federal officials is the perception that low-performing students are merely socially promoted from one grade to another without learning the required material. These assumptions underlie President Clinton's (1998) call to end social promotion and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002) implemented by the Bush administration which recommended students demonstrate grade level competencies before promotion to the next grade level.
Did mandatory busing programs in the 1970s increase the school achievement of disadvantaged minority youth? Does obtaining a college degree increase an individual's labor market earnings? Did the use of the butterfly ballot in some Florida counties in the 2000 presidential election cost Al Gore votes? If so, was the number of miscast votes sufficiently large to have altered the election outcome? At their core, these types of questions are simple cause-and-effect questions. Simple cause-and-effect questions are the motivation for much empirical work in the social sciences. This book presents a model and set of methods for causal effect estimation that social scientists can use to address causal questions such as these. The essential features of the counterfactual model of causality for observational data analysis are presented with examples from sociology, political science, and economics.
A group of elementary-school students, who were repeating the current grade, was matched for report card grades in academic subjects with a group that had been promoted. When their report card marks for behavior were compared, the girl repeaters had significantly more disruptive classroom conduct than the promoted girls. The two groups of boys did not differ in conduct. Teachers appear to decide whether or not to promote girls partly on the basis of their behavior and not just on their achievement.
The following values have no corresponding Zotero field:
ID - 420
Monte Carlo methods are used to study the efficacy of multivariate matched sampling and regression adjustment for controlling bias due to specific matching variables when dependent variables are moderately nonlinear in . The general conclusion is that nearest available Mahalanobis metric matching in combination with regression adjustment on matched pair differences is a highly effective plan for controlling bias due to .
Brookings Papers on Education Policy 2002 (2002) 13-67
To make schools more accountable for the performance of students, many school districts as well as entire states have proposed more rigorous standards to help ensure that pupils have the basic skills necessary to be successful in school. Many public and private sector decisionmakers have criticized the common practice of social promotion; that is, allowing students to progress to the next grade level without having already learned the material required for the current grade. The public in general views the practice of social promotion or grade placement as detrimental to low-performing students who are promoted without requisite skills because such students are presumed to fall further behind their more academically proficient classmates. Consequently, some states and school districts have proposed or adopted strict policies of retention that require a low-achieving student to remain in the same grade until meeting a specified level of proficiency. Although these newer standards for promotion may vary across different educational boundaries, a common mandate is that students would be allowed to proceed to the next grade only after the retained pupil has demonstrated sufficient understanding of the material appropriate for the present grade. The goal of ending social promotion, although not necessarily replacing it with retention in grade, especially when students return to the same curricula taught in the same manner, was endorsed by President Bill Clinton in 1998 and by the U.S. Department of Education in 1999.
However, unlike many public officials, most educational researchers concur that grade retention practices are ineffective in remediating the academic performance of low-achieving students. For example, Panayota Mantzicopoulos and Delmont Morrison state, "Unlike mixed empirical evidence on other educational issues, research on elementary school nonpromotion is unequivocal. It supports the conclusion that retention is not an effective policy." Some critics of retention policies even contend that retaining students in the same grade will only harm their later academic achievement. For example, Lorrie A. Shepard and Mary Lee Smith argue that "retention worsens rather than improves the level of student achievement in years following the repeat year." Publications in which the intended audiences are educational administrators and practitioners often contain articles highly critical of holding students in grade an additional year. Likewise, a literature review for the National Research Council contends that retaining students another year in the same grade will not yield anticipated educational benefits. The claim against the effectiveness of grade retention is generally based on a few often-cited studies and reviews of research literature that are interpreted as being conclusive evidence that holding students back one year in the same grade will impede academic achievement. More recent analyses of a moderate-size panel of at-risk students still indicate that requiring poorly performing pupils to repeat a grade does not lead to greater academic achievement. The perceived negative effects of grade retention are so entrenched among educational researchers that C. Kenneth Tanner and Susan Allan Galis believe reporting on school retention is often biased and misleading.
Nonetheless, some published research supports the position that grade retention allows low-achieving elementary students additional time to remedy low levels of academic performance. To rebut findings supportive of retention practices, detractors of holding students back a year in grade offer various reasons that such findings should be dismissed. A major criticism is that reported gains among retained students are only temporary; failing students who are promoted to the next grade do as well in the long run, they contend, as the retained students. To illustrate, after reviewing studies on grade retention, C. Thomas Holmes concluded that, among low-achieving students, those who were retained tended to show higher academic achievement than their counterparts who had been promoted, but the initial advantage disappeared after three years. Similarly, Lorrie A. Shepard, Mary Lee Smith, and Scott F. Marion contend that the positive effects attributed to retention among Baltimore public elementary students, as reported by Karl L. Alexander, Doris R. Entwisle, and Susan L. Dauber, were likewise temporary. In addition, Shepard, Smith, and Marion contend that the greater observed gains in academic achievement among retained students in...
The role of cognitive, perceptual, visual-motor, behavioral, achievement, and demographic factors affecting nonpromotion at kindergarten was examined in a sample of 34 nonpromoted and 34 promoted kindergarten children of a suburban area in Northern California. The major findings of the study, part of a longitudinal follow-up study, indicated that retained students were more likely to be male, of younger age, and of lower socioeconomic status. In addition, retained students had lower IQ and preacademic achievement test scores and demonstrated increased problems in the areas of visual-motor integration, perceptual organization, and behavior. A discriminant analysis indicated that perceptual problems, inattention, age, preacademic reading achievement, and sex were factors that provided the maximum differentiation between retained and promoted students at the end of kindergarten. The findings are suggestive of interventions that may prove beneficial in preparing retained children for entry into first grade.
This study examined the long-term impact of retention/promotion decisions on the academic achievement of primary grade students. First-, second-, and third-grade retainees were matched on several variables with same-age students who were not retained. Results of same-year comparisons indicated that retained students significantly improve their relative class standing by the end of the retained year, and in some cases they maintain this advantage over a 2-year period; however, after 3 years there are no differences between retained and promoted students. Comparisons of same-grade level performance provided some evidence that second- and third-grade retainees experience more sustained benefits from retention, although these benefits are delayed one year.
Many schools have adopted early-grade retention as an intervention strategy for children displaying academic or behavioral problems. Previous analyses of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort data have found evidence of negative effects of kindergarten retention on academic learning during the repeated year. Will kindergarten retainees recover their lost ground and excel in the long run? What are the effects of first grade retention? According to the analytic results of this study, the negative effects of kindergarten retention on retainees’ reading and math outcomes at the end of the treatment year substantially fade by fifth grade. Meanwhile, first grade retention shows negative effects that stay almost constant from 1 year after treatment to 3 years later. In general, we find no evidence that early-grade retention brings benefits to the retainees’ reading and math learning toward the end of the elementary years.
This study examined the relationship between extra-year programs and later school achievement. Ninety-five children were identified as being either retained in kindergarten, placed in a transition classroom, recommended for an extra-year program but went into first grade, or as being in a control group of children who went from kindergarten to first grade without reservation. Results indicated that children retained in kindergarten performed significantly lower on a standardized achievement test than did children in the other three groups. Despite an extra year of schooling, children placed in transition classrooms did not differ significantly in their performance from children who were recommended for an extra year but went onto first grade and children in the control group.
Although grade retention remains a controversial educational practice, the accumulated research indicates that retention has negative and often harmful effects on academic achievement and other educational outcomes. This study tested the effects of early grade retention on reading achievement, mathematics achievement, teacher ratings, and perceived competence in Grade 4 for 1,255 low-income, mostly Black children. Results indicated that 20.4% of the sample were retained from kindergarten to Grade 3, a rate much higher than the national average. Longitudinal analysis of a good-fitting model of retention indicated that retention had mixed effects on children’s school adjustment at Grade 4. Retention had substantially negative effects on cognitive achievement in reading and mathematics, with both effects over twice the size reported in many previous studies. Retention was unrelated to teacher ratings of school adjustment but positively affected children’s perceived school competence, particularly for early-retained children. Analyses of a matched control group of 200 promoted children yielded similar results, but effects were even larger than those in the total-group analysis. The findings of this study do not support grade retention as an educational practice with children at risk.
Using data from a two-stage probability sample of U.S. high school students, an attempt is made to estimate the effect that dropping out has on cognitive achievement test scores. Each sampled dropout from a school is matched by a multivariate procedure to a student who remained in the same school. The matched pair differences are then adjusted using analysis of covariance. The possibility that important covariates have been omitted from the analysis is addressed through tests of ignorable treatment assignment and through sensitivity analyses.
Moves from one school to another are a common, yet generally neglected, challenge to children's orderly school adjustment over the beginning-school transition. School transfers were traced through the first 5 years of elementary school for a large, diverse sample of children who began first grade in the fall of 1982 in 20 Baltimore City public schools. School moves were patterned along racial-ethnic and socioeconomic lines. Advantaged youngsters more often transferred outside the city school system, whereas disadvantaged youngsters more often transferred within it. Evidence on the consequences of moves for children's school performance is mixed. After 5 years in school, children who moved had lower test scores and marks, had an elevated risk of retention, and were more likely to receive special education services; but most of those differences fell short of significance when controls were introduced for first-grade measures of school performance and for background characteristics. The analysis thus provides only weak support for the hypothesis that school moves compromise children's school performance, but other important areas of concern have yet to be examined adequately, including, especially, the home or family circumstances that prompt students to move.
Grade retention has been controversial for many years, and current calls to end social promotion have lent new urgency to this issue. On the one hand, a policy of retaining in grade those students making slow progress might facilitate instruction by making classrooms more homogeneous academically. On the other hand, grade retention might harm high-risk students by limiting their learning opportunities. Analyzing data from the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten cohort with the technique of multilevel propensity score stratification, we find no evidence that a policy of grade retention in kindergarten improves average achievement in mathematics or reading. Nor do we find evidence that the policy benefits children who would be promoted under the policy. However, the evidence does suggest that children who are retained learn less than they would have had they instead been promoted. The negative effect of grade retention on those retained has little influence on the overall mean achievement of children attending schools with a retention policy because the fraction of children retained in those schools is quite small. Nevertheless, the effect of retention on the retainees is considerably large.
In the mid-1990s, the Chicago Public Schools declared an end to social promotion and instituted promotional requirements based on standardized test scores in the third, sixth, and eighth grades. This article examines the experience of third and sixth graders who were retained under Chicago’s policy from 1997 to 2000. The authors examine the progress of these students for 2 years after they were retained and estimate the short-term effects of retention on reading achievement. Students who were retained under Chicago’s high-stakes testing policy continued to struggle during their retained year and faced significantly increased rates of special education placement. Among third graders, there is no evidence that retention led to greater achievement growth 2 years after the promotional gate. Among sixth graders, there is evidence that retention was associated with lower achievement growth. The effects of retention were estimated by using a growth curve analysis. Comparison groups were constructed by using variation across time in the administration of the policy, and by comparing the achievement growth of a group of low-achieving students who just missed passing the promotional cutoff to a comparison group of students who narrowly met the promotional cutoff at the end of the summer. The robustness of the findings was tested using an instrumental variable approach to address selection effects in estimates.
The negative effects of grade retention should not become an argument for social promotion. Four complementary alternative strategies include enhancing professional development for teachers, employing redesigned school structures (like multiage grouping) that support more intensive learning, providing targeted supports and services when needed, and employing classroom assessments that better inform teaching. (MLH)
Reform efforts in the Chicago (Illinois) public schools represent a radical experiment in decentralization. Half of the 411,000 children in the Chicago public schools never graduate and tens of thousands receive diplomas even though they are scarcely able to read, write, or compute. Recognition of the deplorable shape of the city's schools led to the reform efforts that resulted in the creation of local school councils composed primarily of parents. While other school systems have attempted reforms on a large scale, none has attempted to decentralize as thoroughly or as rapidly as has Chicago. A chronic lack of funds and enormous social problems have undermined the Chicago schools over the years, but there are other barriers to reform that come out of poorly written legislation, politics, and the problems of a swollen bureaucracy. The history of current reform efforts is traced, and some solutions are offered to the problems confronting the Chicago schools. In spite of all the problems, the Chicago reform efforts do illustrate the possibility of change when people are determined to improve the schools. A list of 35 resources is attached. (Contains 56 references.) (SLD)
This study examines the phenomenon of retention in kindergarten through Grade 8 using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS: 88). Data on 16,623 White, Black, and Hispanic public school students show that boys, minorities, and students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to be retained. Two subanalyses of the data were conducted. In the first subanalysis, students who were retained in K through 3 were compared with those who were retained in Grades 4 through 8. The second analysis compared students retained in K through 8 with the total sample of nonretainees. Results suggest that the timing of retention is not uniformly associated with superior performance. Retention at any point is associated with less optimal academic and personal-social outcomes. Nonretained students demonstrate higher grades, test scores, and fewer academic, emotional, and behavioral problems than the retained group. Moreover, retention is associated with more negative outcomes for female, White, and higher SES students. In short, retention does not equalize outcomes even when retained students have been in school a year longer. Consistent with findings from numerous smaller, controlled studies, these results from a national sample strengthen arguments against retention policies. The importance of implementing alternative methods of assisting students at risk for academic failure is noted.
The present study examines high school students with a prior history of grade retention (N = 38) compared to a matched control group of nonretained students. The retained students were lower on a number of scholastic variables (i.e., achievement, intelligence, grades), more often absent from school, and lower on three subscales of a self-esteem measure (the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents). The authors explored the correlates of grade retained with the measured variables and found that the later a student was retained was associated with lower grades, less-positive school attitudes, less time on homework, lower educational expectations, more discipline problems, lower self-control, and a more external locus of control.
The aim of this investigation is to provide a comprehensive review of dropout research that examines grade retention within both associative and predictive models. A systematic review of seventeen studies examining dropping out of high school prior to graduation demonstrates that grade retention is one of the most powerful predictors of dropout status. The discussion addresses the discrepancies among the perspectives of many educational professionals regarding the effectiveness of grade retention and deleterious long-term correlates. The transactional model of development is presented, which emphasizes developmental trajectories over time, in order to facilitate the interpretation of the association between grade retention and school withdrawal. Educational professionals, teachers, researchers, parents, and policymakers considering the efficacy of grade retention are encouraged to consider the implications of these findings. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Statistical methods have had a successful half-century in sociology, contributing to a greatly improved standard of scientific rigor in the discipline. I identify three overlapping postwar generations of statistical methods in sociology, based on the kinds of data they address. The first generation, which started in the late 1940s, deals with cross-tabulations and focuses on measures of association and log-linear models, perhaps the area of statistics to which sociology has contributed the most. The second generation, which began in the 1960s, deals with unit-level survey data and focuses on LISREL-type causal models and event-history analysis. The third generation, starting to emerge in the late 1980s, deals with data that do not fall easily into either of these categories, either because they have a different form, such as texts or narratives, or because dependence is a crucial aspect, as with spatial or social network data. There are many new challenges, and the area is ripe for statistical research; several major institutions have recently launched new initiatives in statistics and the social sciences.
The long and short term correlates of first and second grade retention are examined in relation to the variables of achievement and intelligence over a six year period. The retained and promoted control group were also compared in terms of relevant demographic variables: sex, race, initial intelligence, socioeconomic level of family, father absent, etc. The data led the authors to conclude that retention is an unjustifiable, discriminatory, and noxious educational policy.