Education Expert Says Jury Still Out on Retention v. Social Promotion
by Jim Brown
April 14, 2004
(AgapePress) - Some researchers are questioning the benefits of holding back youngsters who are struggling in school. Two new studies prepared by the consortium on Chicago School Research find there was little long-term benefit for elementary students that were forced to repeat the third grade.The studies found the third graders who were held back did a little better in the first year than those who were allowed to advance. But a year later they were having more trouble in school than those who were given so-called social promotions to keep them with their peers.
Krista Kafer, the senior education policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, says the jury is still out. "As it is in most academic research," she says, "the research is mixed. People have different opinions and are able to hype research to back their opinion."
Researchers claim retention in Chicago's public schools did not help third graders, hurt sixth-graders, and made eighth graders far more likely to drop out. Meanwhile, Kafer notes, ending social promotion yielded lower dropout rates and higher test scores.
The education policy analyst says even though the results of ending social promotion are mixed, support for retention is becoming more widespread. "We're seeing states [and districts] that are adopting rules against social promotion. We also have, across the country, states that are adopting 'end-of-high-school' exams so that students have to pass an exam in order to get their diploma," Kafer says.
Chicago educators recently voted to modify their program to reduce the number of elementary students forced to repeat a grade.
