Retention Deficits

School Administrator, March, 2000

Forcing students to simply repeat a grade doesn't help children's educational achievement, but enrolling them in high-quality early childhood programs does, a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has found in two separate studies.

In a study published in the Journal of School Psychology, Arthur Reynolds, associate professor of social work and educational psychology, followed a sample of mostly African-American students in Chicago from kindergarten through 8th grade.

The study's major finding: Over time, grade retention does not benefit the children it is designed to help. Between 1987 and 1993, retained children under-performed not only their same-age promoted peers, but also their new, younger classmates after being held back in elementary school. First-grade test scores provided a strong predictor of who would be retained.

To account for lower achievement in retained students, Reynolds cites lower expectations from teachers, lowered self-esteem after retention and insufficient remedial help after children are retained.

Reynolds conducted a second study, about to be published, that found participation in an early childhood intervention program reduced both the rate of retention and the rate of later high school dropouts.

According to Reynolds' study, preschool participation in the Chicago Child-Parent Centers, a federally funded program providing child education and family support services from preschool through early grades, cut the high school dropout rate by at least 24 percent. It also cut the rate of grade retention by up to 50 percent.