Is grade retention a useful strategy?

RETENTION

Repeating the Grade is not the Magic Answer for Most Children

Repeating the grade has continued to be the popular first strategy employed in Australia for children who are having learning difficulties. This is despite the fact that research into this practice since 1911 has consistently failed to show that repetition is an effective strategy for most children. In 1975, Jackson reviewed thirty studies published between 1911 and 1973 and concluded "There is no reliable body of evidence to indicate that grade retention is more beneficial than grade promotion for students with serious academic or adjustment difficulties" (p. 627). In a later meta-analysis of the research literature, Holmes and Matthews (1984) found significant differences favouring normally promoted students over retained students in each of the areas which they examined including academic achieve-ment, work study skills, personal, social, and emotional adjustment, behaviour, self-concept, attitude toward school, and attendance. Holmes and Matthews concluded that "educational professionals who continue to retain students do so despite cumulative evidence demonstrating that the potential for negative effects consistently outweighs positive outcomes". (P232)

Jimerson, 2001, reviewed twenty studies published between 1990 and 1999 and examined the effects of grade retention by comparing matched groups. One group consisted of those children who had been promoted normally while the other group consisted of those who had repeated a grade. The two groups were matched on IQ, academic achievement, socio-emotional and behavioural adjust-ment, socio-economic status, and gender. The study considered the age or grade at which retention occurred and when the consequences of the retention were assessed. Finally, the conclusions reached by the author(s) of those previous studies about the efficacy of grade retention were reviewed.

These twenty studies reported 175 cases which compared the academic achievements of retained students with a matched groups of promoted students, Eighty-four of these cases found no significant differences between retained students and promoted students. Of the remainder only nine retained students had benefited in comparison with the promoted students. Eighty-two of the promoted students had made more improvement than the retained students. In other words, only 5% of the retained students had benefited by repeating a grade whereas for 95% of the students there was either no advantage or an actual disadvantage. Even more serious was the finding that in two thirds of the students benefiting from retention the improvements were only noted during the repeated year. Hence for less than 2% of the students was there evidence of long-term benefits from retention.

An examination of the findings of the authors of these twenty studies indicated that only four of them found favourable results for repetition whereas 80% found that repetition was either harmful or, at best, ineffective.

In reviewing the findings of this study Jimerson (2001) wrote "Most educational professionals and researchers recognize that neither repeating a grade nor merely moving on to the next grade provides the necessary scaffolding to improve academic and social skills for students at-risk of academic failure. Instead, it is necessary to implement and examine remedial strategies that can facilitate academic success." This author goes on to advocate that "attention must be directed toward alternative remedial strategies. Researchers, educators, administrators, and legislators should commit to implement and investigate specific remedial intervention strategies designed to facilitate socio-emotional adjustment and educational achievement of our nation's youth"

Holmes, C. T., & Matthews, K. M. (1984). The effects of nonpromotion on elementary and junior high school pupils: A meta-analysis. Reviews of Educational Research, 54, 225-236.

Jackson, G. (1975). The research evidence on the effects of grade retention. Review of Educational Research, 45, 613-635.

Jimerson, S.R. Meta-analysis of Grade Retention Research: Implications for Practice in the 21st Century. School Psychology Review; 2001, Vol. 30 Issue 3, p420.

Copyright Dr Stephen Dossel, and the ADD Association Queensland. This article may be reprinted but should not be modified in any way. Any such use should be acknowledged in the normal manner and must include the author's name and the source of the article