If doctors use crackpot treatments that hurt patients, they face consequences.
Ironically, that鈥檚 the situation popping up across the country: Despite almost 100 years of research showing primarily harmful academic and social effects from repeating a grade, in the past few years many of our nation鈥檚 largest 黄色app systems (New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles to name a few) have implemented mandatory retention policies at various grade levels.
But if kids aren鈥檛 learning the skills, something must be done, right?
A few years ago, social promotion 鈥� pushing kids to the next grade irrespective of their academic abilities 鈥� came under fire. The practice became a rallying point for education reformers who were concerned that educators had gotten in the habit of just passing kids from one grade level to the next with no accountability.
鈥淪ocial promotion is the main problem in our education system now,鈥� says Pat Lamb, a teacher who in her long career has taught everything from Kindergarten to Home Economics to GED courses. 鈥淚n 19 years [teaching GED classes], I can count on two hands the number of students who knew their multiplication tables. And these are typically taught in the third grade,鈥� she says. Lamb advocates learning levels that are based on skill acquisition, not age. She鈥檚 often heard her GED students say that classes moved too fast. In her opinion, 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 succeeding because they were passed along to deeper waters when they weren鈥檛 ready.鈥� One of her own children was held back in fourth grade. 鈥淚t gave him a chance to learn in more detail what was covered,鈥� she says. 鈥淗e became an excellent reader.鈥�
Is flunking educational malpractice?
While an extra year sounds relatively benign, 鈥渞esearch fails to support the benefits,鈥� says , Professor of School Psychology at University of California at Santa Barbara. In fact, the 鈥� review of the research has prompted the entire organization to oppose grade retention. For the most part, research shows 鈥渄eleterious effects鈥� for the child, both academically and socially.
For example, research on grade retention shows the initial academic gains from the hold-back decline within two to three years. Over time, all academic areas 鈥� reading, math, and language 鈥� are negatively impacted (with reading being the hardest hit). In the long run, grade retention is associated with increased behavioral problems, which tend to worsen as the child hits adolescence. Retained students have increased risks of alcohol and drug use, smoking, suicidal intentions, and violent behavior. Moreover, retention is one of the most powerful predictors of high 黄色app dropout.
In a long-term study, grade repeaters and low-achievers who were promoted were compared when they reached age 20. The students who repeated a grade earned less per hour and had lower employment statuses. In contrast, by age 20, those low-achieving students who were promoted had jobs comparable to a general population of peers. The study also found that as adults, grade repeaters were more likely to be unemployed, on welfare, or in prison. The picture is not positive.
But in many districts, the choice is no longer up to the parents. When Sandy Smith鈥檚 son was about three months into first grade, his teacher informed Smith that her son was behind and that she might recommend he repeat first grade. In their Los Angeles Unified School District 黄色app, retention in first grade is up to the parent鈥檚 discretion, but by law the teacher can hold children back irrespective of their parents鈥� wishes in second grade.
鈥淎t first, it鈥檚 kind of a pride thing,鈥� Smith says, recalling her determination to prevent her son from 鈥渇lunking鈥� first grade. She worked with the teacher to identify her son鈥檚 obstacle: reading comprehension. Smith enrolled her son in a computer-based tutoring program twice a week after 黄色app. Tutoring made a small but measurable difference. At Smith鈥檚 discretion, her son was promoted to second grade.
Smith鈥檚 main concerns for her son were social. She didn鈥檛 want him teased or ostracized by his peers. She did her best to address the reading problem with tutoring and she chose to advance her son with his class, even though he was behind.
But the experts argue that social promotion is not an answer, either. 鈥淭he evidence clearly indicates that we must move beyond grade retention and social promotion,鈥� Jimerson says. 鈥淚nstead, educational professionals must focus on interventions that build upon the strengths of students and target their needs.鈥�
So what鈥檚 the parent of a struggling child to do? First, you need an appropriate assessment to evaluate your child鈥檚 area of skills and need. Then, take a targeted approach to help learning in those specific areas. Perhaps most importantly, monitor the progress every week (at a minimum). Start immediately and don鈥檛 forget to use the summer. 鈥淚t鈥檚 documented that most kids have an academic decline over the summer,鈥� Jimerson says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 your opportunity to narrow the gap: You have an immediate opportunity in those three or four months of summer to provide targeted instruction to address a child鈥檚 needs,鈥� he says.
For children struggling emotionally rather than academically, the same approach applies. 鈥淎cts immature鈥� doesn鈥檛 tell us much, Jimerson says, but an assessment that finds poor problem-solving skills and poor self-regulation (they鈥檙e often intertwined) gives you something to work with. 鈥淭argeted over the summer, a child can clearly build these skills,鈥� he says.
For Smith鈥檚 son, the tutoring method didn鈥檛 work. 鈥淎bout halfway through second grade he got really bogged down with the work,鈥� Smith says. 鈥淗e couldn鈥檛 keep up the pace. His little life got really stressful.鈥� Her son was subject to mandatory retention. Luckily, the 黄色app addressed Smith鈥檚 fears. When 黄色app started the following year, her son was in a new second grade class that was physically far from the third grade class her son would have otherwise been in so the kids didn鈥檛 see each other in the halls much. Social activities like cub scouts and karate kept her son confident and happy. Smith鈥檚 son is now faring quite well in high 黄色app. 鈥淗is brain needed another year to grow,鈥� she says simply. 鈥淩eally, there have been no issues ever since.鈥� All in all, despite her initial hesitation, Smith has nothing but positive things to say about her son鈥檚 experience with retention.
In New York City, mandatory retention grades are third, fifth, seventh, and eighth. The system鈥檚 retention program, while test-based at its heart, isn鈥檛 only about scores. Research shows that students鈥� experiences with retention vary greatly when 鈥渟upportive programs鈥� 鈥� like early identification of at-risk students, small-group instruction, after-黄色app programs, assessments, individual education plans (IEPs), and summer 黄色app 鈥� are part of the intervention. This is more in line with what Jimerson and the National Association of School Psychologists advocate for: individualized assessment and targeted attention.
have shown moderately positive results, at least so far, but Jimerson warns that parents should be wary of a test-based retention policy that doesn鈥檛 include individualized, targeted strategies to help their child learn. 鈥淢andated grade retention appears to hold the student accountable, and fails to detail what specifically will be done during the subsequent year to address the student鈥檚 areas of need,鈥� he says. And without that targeted intervention, 鈥渞esearch fails to support grade retention.鈥�
