Research Findings on Retention from the National Association of.docVIP

Research Findings on Retention from the National Association of School Psychologists Findings from extensive research during the last century on the efficacy of grade retention warrant serious consideration.? The following summarizes the preponderance of the evidence. Student characteristics: Some groups of children are more likely to be retained than others. Those at highest risk for retention are male; African American or Hispanic; have a late birthday, delayed development and/or attention problems; live in poverty or in a single-parent household; have parents with low educational attainment;? have parents that are less involved in their education; or have changed schools frequently.? Students who have behavior problems and display aggression or immaturity are more likely to be retained. Students with reading problems, including English Language Learners, are also more likely to be retained.? Impact at the elementary school level: . While delayed entry and readiness classes may not hurt children in the short run, there is no evidence of a positive effect on either long-term school achievement or adjustment.? Furthermore, by adolescence, these early retention practices are predictive of numerous health and emotional risk factors, and associated deleterious outcomes. . Initial achievement gains may occur during the year the student is retained. However, the consistent trend across many research studies is that achievement gains decline 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 children are compared to same-grade peers or comparable students who were promoted. . The most notable academic deficit for retained students is in reading. . Children with the greatest number of academic, emotional, and behavioral problems are most likely to experience negative consequences of retention.? Subsequent academic and behavioral problems may result in the child