Debates about grade retention weigh the academic benefits of remediation against its social and psychological costs. Louisiana adopted a retention policy aimed at capturing these benefits while mitigating the harm. It used test score thresholds to distinguish between retention in grade 8, promotion to grade 9, and a grade "8.5" where…

This paper evaluates the impact on dropout rates of a policy change in Mexico that eliminates grade retention for all first to third-grade students, causing a sharp reduction in repetition rates. I use a 12-year panel of schools to exploit such variation and estimate Difference-in-Difference models showing an average decrease in dropout rates of…

This paper investigates the issue of social promotion and grade repetition. The first section of the literature review examines research from the past 30 to 40 years which looks at the negative and positive effects of grade repetition. Next, recent studies are examined from the late twentieth and the twenty-first century which questions the…

Jeb Bush campaigned for governor on a clear and bracing set of education reforms in 1998. Having won office, he immediately pursued a dual-track strategy for reforming Florida's K-12 education system: standards and accountability for public schools, choice and options for parents. Florida lawmakers followed those reforms with additional measures.…

From 2006 to 2008, refugee resettlement agencies brought 4018 refugees to Chicago, Illinois. Using the example of the challenges faced by 14 refugee students from Burundi in adjusting to the U.S. school system, the authors call the attention of schools to the distinction between educating English Language Learners (ELL) and Educating Culturally…

Although schools have always struggled with student failure, retention, and attrition, the turn of the new century has produced added pressures for schools to reduce student dropout rates. In the current political and economic environment, increased costs and reduced budgets are forcing difficult choices in how best to spend limited resources.…

From 2006 to 2008, refugee resettlement agencies brought 4018 refugees to Chicago, Illinois. Using the example of the challenges faced by 14 refugee students from Burundi in adjusting to the U.S. school system, the authors call the attention of schools to the distinction between educating English Language Learners (ELL) and Educating Culturally…

This study is an examination of Florida and Michigan's performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress's (NAEP) standardized test, often referred to as "the nation's report card." Immediately prior to and during Florida's immense improvement on these scores from the past 15 years, the state made substantial changes to its…

Standardized academic testing, under-performing schools, demands for high standards in America's schools and current levels of student dropouts have resulted in renewed calls for "getting tough on student retention." The push for student retention is demanded by school boards and others in spite of the overwhelming research evidence that…

To compete in the global economy, high school graduates need to be college and career ready. The number of jobs for those with a high school diploma or less is dwindling. Investing in education is more important than ever. According to Hawaii Department of Education's 2008 Superintendent's Report, Hawaii has been graduating only about 80% of its…

Federal education policy in recent years has encouraged state and local education agencies to embrace data use and analysis in decision-making, ranging from policy development and implementation to performance evaluation. The capacity of these agencies to make effective and methodologically sound use of collected data for these purposes remains an…

This study of grade-level advancement/retention policies and procedures in 10 school districts shows how retention policy and procedure are disconnected from retention research. Administrators and teachers experience ethical dilemmas when district policy and prescribed practice collide with realities that underlie student failure. However, acts of…

An education gap between white students and their black and Hispanic peers is something to which most Americans have become accustomed. But this racial division of education--and hence of prospects for the future--is nothing less than tragic. The good news is that the racial divide in learning is a problem that can be fixed. Of course, it can only…

Most research examining the efficacy of early grade retention has been limited to outcomes during elementary school. A notable gap in the retention literature is the dearth of studies examining outcomes during late adolescence. The results of this prospective longitudinal study include comparisons among four unique samples: (1) early grade…

Using John Kingdon's (2003) multiple streams approach to agenda setting, I analyze how key actors within the state of Wisconsin understood the need to construct and implement the state's No Social Promotion statutes to improve students' academic performance. Policymakers within the state focused their standards-based reforms on the issue of…