Georgia law mandates that students who fail the state Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) twice in grades three, five, and eight be retained, unless a committee is convened including a subject-area teacher, an administrator, and the student's parent or guardian. If the committee unanimously decides the student may be successful in the…

Recognizes the issue of nonpromotion as a reality that affects almost every public school. Suggests a simple, inexpensive, and promising remediation technique (modeled after the collegiate athletic practice of "redshirting") utilizing a semantic differential to change the focus of retention from negative inputs to positive outputs. (NEC)

The extent of grade retention in Massachusetts is assessed in this report, which examines current research on grade retention and suggests alternative practices for dealing with low achieving students. Data were derived from the Chapter 188 Individual School Report for 1987-88, an annual survey of Massachusetts conducted by the Department of…

The 1984-85 age-grade distribution for the New York City Public Schools shows that one-third of the city's approximately 850,000 general education and resource room students were above the standard age for their grade. The proportion of overage students increased in the upper grades; in grades nine, ten, and eleven, over half were above standard…

Reviews issues relative to retention of schoolchildren. Includes a historical perspective on the retention-promotion controversy, information on retention policies and retention prevalence rates, a review of research on the effectiveness of retention, and a discussion of factors that should be considered by psychologists making retention and…

Elementary students who are overage due to retention are compared with those who are overage for other reasons on both at-risk indicators and demographic factors. Records of 127 fifth, sixth, and seventh graders were examined with respect to student performance on academic indicators of at-risk behavior. Findings indicate that overage students…

This guide presents the Department of Education's strategy for ending social promotion in public schools. It opens with a description of social promotion and the pervasiveness and the consequences of this practice. The volume outlines the high standards that all students should be held to and emphasizes the importance of creating reliable measures…

This paper responds to President Clinton's call for an end to social promotion. The article reports on a study that examined the effects of social promotion on students, looked at alternatives to social promotion, and investigated how teachers in a representative public school district perceive social promotion. Data were gathered from 46…

This handbook, issued in conjunction with the Governor's "Agenda for Excellence in Pennsylvania Public Schools," provides recommendations for revising promotion policies and practices in Pennsylvania schools. After a brief introduction, the results of a survey of promotion and retention practices are presented in summary form, followed…

Examines principal and teacher response to the implementation of a systemwide student promotion policy in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). Concludes that although principals and teachers may agree in principle with promotional standards, conflicting values may interfere with implementation. (FMW)

In the summer of 1984, the Pennsylvania Department of Education conducted a survey of promotion policies and practices in Pennsylvania schools in response to a request for information from the State Board of Education. This document presents the major findings from the analysis of data from the 423 school districts that completed the survey. A…

This publication focuses on the retention/promotion debate regarding failing and low-achieving students. An introductory essay describes the inherent limitation in the research done on this issue--the impossibility of obtaining an appropriate control group--and suggests that the retention/promotion quandary can best be resolved by accommodating…

In order to identify factors which indicate a student would benefit educationally from retention, and to provide information and recommendations to educators, parents, and others involved in the decision to retain a child, this paper addresses the issue of retention in four major areas: the historical basis of retention, negative and positive…

Each year, many teachers face the problem of where to place children who do not fit into the rest of the class. Retention is an option that is frequently considered for these children. Children considered for retention often have poor academic skills, are small in stature or the youngest in the grade, have moved or been absent frequently, do…

Using a subsample of data relating to 4,668 first- and second-graders and their families from the 1991 National Household Education Survey, a study examined different ways of measuring whether a child is behind in grade and compared these measures with data about children who are below modal grade levels. Several profiles emerged. Children delayed…