The increasingly common practice of retaining kindergarten children by enrolling them in alternative programs instead of first grade is briefly discussed in terms of what research says about retention, the social stigma of retention, the escalating kindergarten curriculum, and alternatives to retention. It is argued that the fad to flunk…

Reviews ERIC materials dealing with the issue of grade repetition. (FL)

The subject of grade retention has generated substantial theoretical, empirical, and practical attention for almost a century. However, few conclusive statements regarding this widespread practice can be made, and the literature has generated mixed results. Reviews of the literature prompt many questions: Does retaining a child in grade increase…

Examines the effectiveness of five college level learning skills centers on grade improvement and retention. Finds successful programs are well structured, link with academic courses students take concurrently, stress a supportive relationship with the instructor, include behavioral counseling, are interwoven with other services and programs, and…

This Digest reviews the historical background on grade retention and promotion and examines research, criteria, and policies concerning these options. The historical overview points out changes in attitudes toward mastery-based promotion and social promotion practices in the schools. Valid and invalid approaches to research on grade retention are…

This digest highlights major research findings about social promotion, retention, and programs that identify and assist students at risk of retention. Research findings indicate that, overall, neither social promotion nor retention offers lasting advantage nor leads to high performance. Some evidence supports, and little evidence disputes, the…

Research on the retention or promotion of failing students has been unable to demonstrate the superiority of either method, concludes the author of this review. Furthermore, research shows that neither method by itself solves the educational problems of low-achieving students, since both retained and promoted students continue to achieve at levels…

Examination of the literature reveals that all reviews of research comparing grade retention policies with social promotion policies favor social promotion. Grade retention fails to ensure greater achievement, either by retained students or their classmates, and frequently leads to long-term damage in the areas of personal and social adjustment.…

This ERIC Digest was adapted from the Association for Childhood Education International's (ACEI) 1991 position paper on standardized testing. Since the publication of "A Nation at Risk" in 1983, standardized testing programs have expanded greatly. Tests may be of pencil-and-paper or performance-oriented varieties. The purposes of tests…

The curriculum now being taught in many kindergartens is profoundly different from what it was two decades ago. The kindergarten classroom, once conceived of as a play- and group adjustment-oriented setting, may now also be a classroom with an "academic" approach, characterized by direct teaching of discrete skills with specific…

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…

A school's promotion policy is an integral component of its overall educational policy. In conjunction with achievement goals, it defines the levels of performance that permit students to move through grade levels and to graduate. This digest reviews the various promotion policies and practices in current use by secondary schools, particularly…

Decisions about whether to promote a student should be made on a variety of both academic and social grounds, and the curriculum should be restructured to meet the student's needs if retention is chosen. As with other academic/punitive measures, poor Blacks and Hispanics tend to be retained disproportionate to their numbers because minorities are…

If present trends in family life and education continue into the next decade, most children under five will spend substantial proportions of their early years in various types of early childhood programs, most five- to six-year-olds will attend all-day kindergarten, and during their elementary school years they will spend much of their time before…

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…