Most children enter kindergarten when they are 5 years of age and move into first grade when they are 6. This time period is marked by great developmental change (Sameroff and Haith 1996), and children differ in what they can and cannot do socially, physically, and cognitively. Therefore, parents and educators are concerned whether certain…

A legislative mandate requires the Texas Central Education Agency to submit a report each odd-numbered year that includes data collected on students retained in grade, including the reason for retention. This report presents current summary data on the retention rates of Texas students by grade level, age, gender, and ethnicity for 1992-93;…

Retention has been the answer to the problem of what to do with students who are unprepared for the academic and social demands of the next grade. Studies contend that children view retention as punishment and experience emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness when not promoted. Retention or nonpromotion can be defined as the practice of…

A report of retention rates is produced at the end of each school year in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas. Information is gathered after the beginning of the school year to reflect counts of actual retainees from the previous year. Overall retention rates for the beginning of the 1993-94 school year are: (1) elementary, 0.5%;…

Findings of a study that examined the effect of the reforms mandated by South Carolina's Educational Improvement Act of 1984 on student outcomes are presented in this paper. Specifically, the study sought to determine the impact of higher standards for grade promotion and graduation on retention rates, the proportions of students overage for their…

This report describes the results of the United Parents Association's (UPA) project designed to monitor the effects of the New York City Board of Education's "promotional gates" policy of holding children back in the fourth and seventh grades, based on their scores on the California Achievement Test. The report was prompted by UPA's…

Because studies have variously analyzed the effects of nonpromotion on elementary and junior high school students--with some studies selecting control groups from within the same school and others without, some from age-peers and others from grade-peers--this meta-analysis mathematically integrates the research findings to coordinate their…

A study was conducted to assess the services provided by instructional aides, Chapter I teaching aides and teaching assistants, educational therapy aides (special education), and attendance aides in the District of Columbia public schools, 1982-83. Teachers and principals rated very highly the value of the paraprofessional services. Teachers…

Today's administrators must exercise caution in using student retention as a means of responding to changing social values and to the current media attention on declining standardized test scores. Recent reviews of hundreds of studies of student retention have concluded that some low achieving students do benefit from retention, but the majority…

This longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that maternal characteristics and maternal behavior with a child during infancy predicts the child's grade retention during the early elementary school years. In addition, teachers' ratings of the behaviors of children who are promoted or retained were analyzed to determine whether differences exist in…

This study examined one urbanized Southeastern county school district's experience in attempting to implement an educational reform program that called, among other things, for higher standards. By focusing on standardized norm-based and criterion-referenced educational tests administered to students according to grade level, this school system…

This study examines promotion and retention standards at the elementary school level in Detroit Public Schools. Forty-eight teachers from five schools participated. Data collected for each of 420 randomly selected students included: (1) mastery and nonmastery ratings on each of the essential skills in language arts, affective education, and…

A study focused on promotion/retention policies, retention rates, and the problems/objectives associated with their implementation. Thirty-three of the 43 members of the Council of the Great City Schools responded to a survey that measured three demographic characteristics: the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch; the…

Education is an investment in human potential which effects economic prosperity. The high rate of failure for students in public elementary schools from eight large school districts in Louisiana is alarming. Averaged over the school years 1983-1984 to 1985-1986, the percentage of failures in grades 1 through 8 ranges from 6.65% to 17.6%. The state…

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…