69´«Ă½

Opinion
States Opinion

Holding Kids Back Doesn’t Help Them

By Deborah Stipek & Michael Lombardo — May 20, 2014 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

This spring, 3rd graders in several states are taking tests that could change their lives. Based on how youngsters in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, and Ohio score on their 3rd grade reading assessments, they will either move on to 4th grade or be required by law to repeat 3rd grade. (Oklahoma lawmakers recently .)

Retaining children who are behind grade level is not a new practice. But, until recently, the decision has typically been made at the local level, often between teachers and parents. Increasingly, though, state laws are requiring that students be held back automatically based on their performance on 3rd grade reading assessments—regardless of what teachers and parents think is best.

State-mandated retention statutes are being enacted at a dizzying pace by legislatures across the country. In 2012, targeting early reading achievement, many of which require schools to hold back elementary school students based on reading assessments. At least 10 other states have considered or are considering .

The model most frequently cited as the basis for state-mandated retention is a Florida statute enacted in 2002, part of a comprehensive package of reforms, beginning in 1999, that also included A-F grading of schools and an investment in academic interventions, pre-K, and summer programs. The overall results appeared to be significant: Fourth grade reading proficiency, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, increased from 22 percent of students in 2002 to 30 percent in 2013, a greater increase than seen in national 4th grade proficiency rates, which .

The gains may have had little to do with the retention policy, however. Research cannot determine which of the Florida strategies, if any, was responsible for generating these gains. The only formal evaluation of Florida’s state-mandated retention policy, a by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, was not able to disentangle the impact of retention from that of Florida’s other reforms. The study also acknowledged that prior research comparing different strategies had found retention to have no effect on reading achievement after two years.

BRIC ARCHIVE

In addition to the absence of evidence on the effect of state-mandated retention in Florida, an examination of the best research conducted on the effects of retention demonstrates that the policy is most likely counterproductive.

A majority of peer-reviewed studies over the past 30 years have demonstrated that holding students back yields little or no long-term academic benefits and can actually be harmful to students. When improvements in achievement are linked to retention, they are not usually sustained beyond a few years, and there is for negative effects on self-esteem and emotional well-being.

Moreover, there is compelling evidence that retention can reduce the probability of high school graduation. According to a 2005 review of decades of studies by Nailing Xia and Elizabeth Glennie: “Research has consistently found that retained students are at a higher risk of leaving school earlier, even after controlling for academic performance and other factors such as race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, family background, etc.â€

The authors went on to note that retention’s effect on dropout rates was also “associated with decreased lifetime earnings and poorer employment outcomes in the long run.â€

Even the Florida experience is consistent with evidence that state-mandated retention may, at best, have only short-term benefits. While 4th grade reading proficiency in Florida increased by 8 percentage points from 2002 to 2013, 8th grade proficiency increased by only 3 percentage points. And, as of 2013, Florida still rated below the national average for 8th grade reading proficiency.

When a strategy fails to work, the solution is not to do it again; it is to change the strategy.â€

State-mandated retention seems like a common-sense strategy to ensure that students’ reading achievement is on grade level. The alternative typically posed in political circles is social promotion, and who can argue for passing children on grade after grade regardless of whether they are ready for the material they will be expected to learn in the next grade?

But retention does not help most children who have fallen behind, primarily because they are exposed to the same material in the same way that didn’t work for them the first time around. When a strategy fails to work, the solution is not to do it again; it is to change the strategy.

Happily, there are more effective and less expensive alternatives. The cost of having a student repeat 3rd grade is several times greater than alternatives such as tutoring or small-group interventions, summer school, or high-quality pre-K. These approaches don’t have the negative side effects associated with retention.

Instead of giving children the same treatment that failed them the first time, alternative strategies provide different kinds of learning opportunities.

Interventions should also begin long before 3rd grade. Research has provided compelling evidence that investments in preschool can reduce retention and have positive long-term payoff for individuals and society, in contrast to the negative long-term effects of holding a student back later.

Many tutoring and summer programs in the first few grades of school have demonstrated effectiveness in helping students improve reading. Investing in improving the quality of the teaching children receive in the early grades is another less expensive alternative to retention, and it would benefit all students, not just those who are falling behind grade level.

Given what decades of research has told us, decisions to retain individual children should be made only when there is compelling evidence that it is likely to benefit the child. Until there is a body of rigorous research linking mandatory retention to long-term benefits for children, we do not recommend that states require students be held back against the wishes of parents and over the objections of educators.

Policymakers in Florida and across the country should be commended for acknowledging the importance of early reading and taking actions intended to improve achievement.

Research tells us that mastering reading (as well as math) by 4th grade is a critical factor in determining a child’s later success, both in school and in life. Let’s harness this legislative momentum and focus on implementing strategies that have been proven to be effective and offer the best chance of preparing children to be successful, confident students.

A version of this article appeared in the May 21, 2014 edition of Education Week as Retention May Cause More Problems Than It Solves

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

States Oklahoma GOP Lawmakers Demand Investigation of Education Chief
They have concerns about Ryan Walters' stewardship of federal and state funds and his transparency on meetings and open-records requests.
4 min read
Ryan Walters speaks at a rally, Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Republican State Superintendent Walters ordered public schools Thursday, June 27, 2024, to incorporate the Bible into lessons for grades 5 through 12, the latest effort by conservatives to incorporate religion into classrooms.
Oklahoma state Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks at a rally on Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City. Walters is now facing scrutiny from GOP lawmakers, who seek an investigation into his stewardship of education funding and his agency's transparency.
Sue Ogrocki/AP
States Some School Workers Now Get Unemployment Over the Summer. Here's How It Works
Districts are scrambling as some states now allow non-instructional school employees to collect summer unemployment checks.
9 min read
Illustration of dollar being used to fill gap in bridge.
DigitalVision Vectors
States Why This State Will Take a Class Requirement Off the Ballot—And Why It Matters
Asking voters to decide on a curriculum issue could set a tricky precedent, experts say.
2 min read
Image of books, money, calculator, and graduation cap.
cnythzl/DigitalVision Vectors
States How States Are Testing the Church-State Divide in Public 69´«Ă½
A new order to teach the Bible in Oklahoma is the latest action to fuel debate over the presence of religion in schools.
7 min read
Image of a bible sitting on top of a school backpack.
Canva