Follow-up study investigates the effects of retention on school achievement, perceived school competence, and delinquency. The strongest predictors of retention were early school performance, gender, parental participation in school, and the number of school moves. Findings suggest that intervention approaches other than grade retention are needed…

Across the country, official reports of high school students out of school do not always reflect the scope and extent of an urgent but neglected national education problem: The nation's graduation rate is in steady decline. An increasing percentage of adolescents are not graduating from school in four or even five years. A related cause for…

This report summarizes results from the 2007 Austin Independent School District summer school program at those Title I schools that provided summer services to students who did not attend other district summer school programs.

This study uses rich empirical data from Brazil to assess how a government program (PDE) that decentralizes school management decisions changes what goes on in schools and how these changes affect student outcomes. It appears that the PDE resulted in some improvements in management and learning materials, but little change in other areas including…

The Durham Public Schools Communities in Schools (CIS) Academy provides a student-centered environment that encourages high-risk students to remain in school and get back on track for graduation. Program operations began in January 1995. This paper presents the results of an evaluation of the first semester of operations (the second semester of…

This study reviews research and looks at promotion policies in 85 school districts, including the United States' 40 largest districts, describes the practices that support social promotion, and identifies the policy changes that will be necessary to break the social promotion-retention-social promotion cycle. Social promotion prevails in these…

Although each of the 11 programs evaluated in this report during the 1989-90 school year had its own unique design and objectives, their common goal was to increase the likelihood that at-risk students in Cleveland (Ohio) schools would complete their high school education. Programs were evaluated in terms of changes from the previous year in the…

This study examined the differences between stable students and more mobile students in Cleveland (Ohio) schools during the 1987-88 school year. Highly mobile students are believed to be more educationally at risk than their stable counterparts. A stable student was defined as one who was enrolled for at least 178 days and did not transfer from…

Retention, the practice of requiring a student to repeat a particular grade or of delaying the entry to kindergarden or first grade of a child who is of appropriate chronological age, remains a common educational custom although little research exists to validate its effectiveness. The literature review on retention effects contained within this…

The District of Columbia's Student Progress Plan (SPP) was designed as the delivery system for the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), and regulates student promotions based on skill attainment and mastery of the instructional objectives. An evaluation of SPP was conducted in the second semester of school year 1985-86, and its findings are…

Part of the Eleventh Annual Report to the Ontario Ministry of Education, this report describes the grade and program location of students who entered kindergarten in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario in 1974, known as the K-74 cohort. The first section of the report deals with the K-74 cohort; later sections deal with students who joined either early…

The purpose of this paper is to present different aspects of the effects of grade retention on students and to consider what is best for the total development of the child. Studies show that grade retention does not ensure significant gains in achievement. However, studies seem to be less conclusive regarding retention due to the immaturity of…

A practical application of the Planning, Monitoring, and Implementation Model (PMI) is illustrated in the evaluation of the District of Columbia Public Schools' Student Progress Plan. The plan adheres to the principle that the student be encouraged to move along an instructional continuum at his or her individual rate. The Division of Research and…

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.…

The validity of the argument that non-promotion and subsequent repetition of the work in a grade will lead to an improvement in performance was examined. The subjects were 642 students in grades 8-11. The data was derived from the year-end marks that each student received in the subject areas, upon which the decision to promote or retain was made.…