grade retention

Is Grade Retention Beneficial for Students?

Is Grade Retention Beneficial for Students? Grade retention, also known as “flunking” or being held back, is one of the most common ways to raise educational standards. Retention occurs when teachers and administrators and/or parents do not feel the student is ready to be promoted to the next grade due to academic or maturity reasons. The student then has to repeat the previous year until they pass or are prepared for the next grade. Many people in the educational field feel that retention is one of the most beneficial methods that help students who are not ready gain the skills and knowledge they need in order to be successful in the following grades. However, since the 70’s, research has shown that effects of grade retention are predominantly negative (Martin 741). If this is true, why does around 5-7% of the public school population in the U.S get retained annually (Shepard and Smith 84)? This paper will discuss the social, emotional, and academic disadvantages of being retained, why teachers think retention is a good idea and what they can do instead of retaining a student.
Social/Emotional Disadvantages of Being Retained
Most students are left back because of their grades or because parents and/or teachers think it’ll be better for their social and emotional development. Although, retention seems to have positive outcomes at first glance, it leaves the student with social, emotional, and academic disadvantages. In a study conducted by Martin (2011), the main sample consisted of 3,261 high school students. Junior high school (grades 7-8; 12-14 years old) made up approximately 36%, middle high school (grades 9-10; 14-16 years old) made up approximately 38%, and senior high school (grades 11-12; 16-18 years old), which made up 26%. In all 6% of the students reported to have been retained at least once. Martin measured motivation using the Motivation and Engagement Scale – high school (MES-HS), and he measured self-concept, peer relations, and self esteem by administering the Self-Description Questionnaire II- Short. Retention was founded to be a positive predictor of impeding motivation, maladaptive motivation, and weeks absent from school. Grade retention was also found to be a negative predictor of self-esteem, but wasn’t associated with peer relationships. This finding demonstrates that retention actually leaves retained students at more of a disadvantage than promoted. This study’s results agree with previous and present studies done that evaluate the effects of retention on students. For example, in a 1980 study done by Yamamoto, children rated the idea of being retained as more stressful than “wetting in class” and being caught stealing. The only two factors that beat being retained were losing a parent and going blind (Shepard and Smith 85). Research proves grade retention leaves the student with additional emotional and social disadvantages and stress factors that have a negative effect on his or her schooling.
Academic Disadvantages
Students who are retained not only suffer socially and emotionally but academically as well. Teachers claim that retention helps because students who are retained tend to do better the following months or years. But studies prove that the academic difficulties that initially lead to retention remain with students causing them to struggle throughout their school careers (Hallinan). Merely repeating the same curriculum or instruction is not likely to fix the problem. Retention has also been called, “one of the most powerful predictors of withdrawal,” because dropping out is most common in students who have been retained (Appleton et al 135). In classic study done by Connell and Pierson, it was found that retained students “report less adaptive strategies for achieving success and avoiding failure, lower perceived capacities to be smart in school and produce effort, and more negative control beliefs than do randomly selected subjects.” The subjects were chosen from grades 3-6 in a suburban/rural district in upstate NY. Students who were retained while in the first through fourth grade in the same district in which they currently were enrolled were chosen, only if at least one year went by since the repeated grade. The only students who were eliminated were children held back in kindergarten because in that district the children believe they are being held back to be next years “helper”. The buffer year helped to evaluate the possibility of immediate academic improvement and immediate negative emotional effects, in which only the emotional effects were founded to be true. Connell and Pierson used the Rochester Assessment Package for School, which is a questionnaire for students that measures their beliefs about their competence, autonomy, relatedness, and experiences. Other studies that evaluate the academic effects of retention support their findings.
Why Do Teachers Insist on Holding Students Backs?
If all this research proves that grade retention has dramatic negative effects on a student’s life, why do teachers insist on continuously using retention as a method for intervening? “Past inquiries have found that teachers’ beliefs about retention are influenced more by peers rather than by research, causing teachers to recommend retention for students who have similar characteristics,” (Holt et al). Holt et al. also found that teachers agreed with the following reasons as to why retention is beneficial; prevents future failure, motivates students to attend school, and increases parent motivation. Two of which are proven to be incorrect. Another factor that leads to teachers believing in retention is because most teachers do not follow their student’s academic careers so they don’t see how there really is no benefit to retention. A structured developmental education program that identifies focuses on, and addresses students’ academic, nonacademic, and personal factors can positively affect students’ success (Fowler and Boylan 10). Instead of retention, schools should practice a variety of intervention methods such as; remedial help, before and after school programs, summer school, and instructional aids to work with target children in their regular classroom, and peer tutoring (Shepard and Smith 85). A huge factor that can dramatically change a child’s academic career is the role of parent involvement. Parents along with teachers should work together, communicate, and provide appropriate support and scaffolding for the child. All these methods are financially cheaper than the price of retention as well as much more beneficial to the child.
Summary
Based on research, retention is more harmful than beneficial for students. Social promotion with proper intervention methods should be the first step in helping a child succeed in school. When grade retention occurs the child eventually suffers from academic, social, and emotional disadvantage. Many teachers do not know about all the research done for retention and universities should begin to emphasize the importance of intervention at an early age and the effects of retention on students’ academic careers!

Work Cited
Appleton, et al. "Does The Timing Of Grade Retention Make A Difference? Examining
The Effects Of Early Versus Later Retention." School Psychology Review 35.1 (2006): 134-141. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Fowler, Paul R., and Hunter R. Boylan. "Increasing Student Success And Retention: A
Multidimensional Approach." Journal Of Developmental Education 34.2 (2010): 2-4,. ERIC. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Hallinan, Maureen T. "On the Success of Failure: A Reassessment of the Effects of Retention in the Primary Grades." Social Forces 75.4 (1997): 1503+. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Martin, Andrew J. "Holding Back And Holding Behind: Grade Retention And Students’ NonAcademic And Academic Outcomes." British Educational Research Journal 37.5 (2011): 739-763. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Pierson, Louisa H., and James P. Connell. "Effect Of Grade Retention On Self-System Processes, School Engagement, And Academic Performance." Journal Of Educational Psychology 84.3 (1992): 300. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Shepard, Lorrie A., and Mary Lee Smith. "Synthesis Of Research On Grade Retention." Educational Leadership 47.8 (1990): 84. Academic Search Premier. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Suzie Young, et al. "The Perceptions Of Primary Grade Teachers And Elementary Principals About The Effectiveness Of Grade-Level Retention." Professional Educator 36.1 (2012): ERIC. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.