Grade Retention
Position Statement
National Association of School Psychologists


Student Grade Retention and Social Promotion


The problem of academic underachievement in this 
country is widespread and severe.

Recent efforts to halt the use of social promotion 
for children who are academically delayed has 
brought the spotlight to alternatives to this 
practice that better meet student needs. It has 
also led to a
rise in public debate on the use of retention as 
a means to enhance educational attainment.

Psychologists promotes the use of interventions 
that are effective and
research-based and discourages the use of
practices which, though popular or widely
accepted, are either not beneficial or are
harmful to the welfare and educational
attainment of America's children and youth.

The practice of retaining children in grade
has been shown, through many years of
research, to be ineffective in meeting the
needs of children who are academically
delayed. NASP, therefore, urges schools and
parents to seek alternatives to retention
which are more beneficial to children and
address more effectively the specific
learning needs of academic underachievers.

Research Findings
The research on the effects of retention is 
extensive. While admittedly of varying quality, 
the preponderance of the research demonstrates:

In elementary school
Some groups of children are more likely to be retained than
others. Those at highest risk for
retention are male, Black or
Hispanic, have a late birthday,
delayed development, have parents
with low educational attainment,
come from single parent
households, live in poverty, have
attention problems, or have
changed schools.


While delayed entry and readiness
classes may not hurt children in
the short run, there is no
evidence of a positive effect on
either school achievement or
adjustment. Furthermore, by
adolescence these practices are
associated with numerous health
and emotional risk factors.


Retention is generally associated
with poorer academic achievement
when groups of retained children
are compared to groups of similar
children who are promoted. The
effects are greatest in reading,
the primary academic delay for
which students are retained.



Initial achievement gains may
occur during the retention year,
but the consistent trend across
many research studies is that
achievement declines within 2-3
years of retention such that
retained children either do no
better or perform more poorly
than similar groups of promoted
children. This is true whether
childrenarcompared to same-age or
same grade students who were
promoted.


Children who are the most delayed
are most likely to be harmed by
retention. Particularly at the
first grade level, large
percentages of retained children
are either subsequently retained
again or are placed in special
education.


Retention appears to have a
negligible effect, positive or
negative, on overall school
adjustment as measured by
self-esteem inventories; however,
retention is associated with
significant increases in behavior
problems as measured by behavior
rating scales, with problems
becoming more pronounced as the
child reaches adolescence.



At the secondary level:
Being "old for grade," either due to retention or delayed school entry, is
associated at adolescence with:


Increased risk of school dropout,
even when achievement levels are
controlled for.


Increased risk of
health-compromising behaviors
such as emotional distress,
cigarette use, alcohol use, drug
abuse, driving while drinking,
use of alcohol during sexual
activity, early onset of sexual
activity, having suicidal
intentions, and engaging in
violent behaviors. Furthermore,
students who themselves were not
retained but who attend schools
with a higher proportion of old
for grade students are also at
risk for increased substance
abuse.


In adulthood:

The negative effects of retention persist
into adulthood. Grade repeaters as adults
are more likely to be unemployed, living on
public assistance or in prison than adults
who did not repeat a grade.

Benefits of Retention

The research on retention at all age levels and across studies is based on group data.

While there may be individual students who
benefit from retention, no study has been
able to predict accurately which children
will gain from being retained, other than
to state that children who may benefit from
retention:

* show signs of difficulty in
school because of lack of
opportunity for instruction
rather than lack of ability;

* have positive self-esteem
prior to retention;

* are less than one standard
deviation below the mean on
measures of academic
achievement;

* do not have serious social,
emotional, or behavioral
deficits;

* are not simply held back but
have a specific remediation
plan in place to address
skill or behavioral
deficits.



Alternatives to Retention/Social Promotion
A wide array of alternatives are available
to school districts who want to promote
more effective means of addressing the
problem of academic underachievement. NASP
encourages school districts to consider the
following practices in lieu of retention or
social promotion:


* the active encouragement of
parent involvement in their
children's schools and
education;

* the use of developmentally
appropriate instruction;

* multi-age grouping in
classrooms where teachers
have been trained to work
with mixed-age and ability
populations;

* effective early reading
programs such as Success for
All, Reading Recovery and
Direct Instruction;

* effective school-based
mental health programs such
as The Primary Mental Health
Project;

* the use of teacher
assistance teams to identify
specific learning or
behavior problems, design
interventions to address
those problems, and evaluate
the efficacy of those
interventions;

* the appropriate use of
special education services
for children with
educational disabilities;

* participation in extended
year programs;

* participation in extended
day programs;

* participation in tutoring
programs with peer,
cross-age, or adult tutors;

* instructional modifications
that accelerate progress;



full-service schools to provide a
community-based vehicle for the
organization and delivery of
educational, social and health
services to meet the diverse
needs of at-risk students.



For the majority of children experiencing
academic delays, neither grade retention
nor social promotion is sufficient by
itself to solve the problem of school
failure. If American schools are committed
to helping all children achieve academic
success and reach their full potential, we
must discard these practices in favor of
ones which recognize that the reasons for
school failure are many and require
programs and interventions designed to
address those reasons. NASP encourages
school psychologists to take an active part
in helping their school districts develop
effective alternatives to retention and
social promotion.

	(c) 1998 National Association of School
      Psychologists, 4340 East West Highway, Suite
      402, Bethesda MD 20814 301-657-0270.
	Permission is granted for personal use.

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