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…

There are many factors which contribute to college/university retention rates, two of which are a sense of entitlement and a lack of academic coping skills among rising college freshmen. The theoretical foundations of this research is conflict theory in education and social construct theory. This study examines grade inflation and social promotion…

The paper researches the practice of social promotion, where students who fail due to a lack of comprehension of grade level material are promoted along with their classmates who passed. Student and parent interviews, student surveys, and data from students' graduation records are used to determine that social promotion does not improve the…

We use event history analysis on an aggregate dataset from 1997 to 2018 to understand the state-level antecedents associated with the adoption of test-based grade retention policies. Findings indicate that the educational conditions of a state to be more predictive of retention policy adoption than the political, economic, and geographic measures.…

This essay considers school and external factors that influenced a teacher's decision to pass a high school student, thus allowing him to graduate high school. I explore my role in understanding and then enacting change within the classroom. This article prompts educators to self-reflect on their positionality, moral decision-making, and…

Social promotion is an ongoing issue in education and is frequently seen as a dichotomy with retention. While retention is a commonly researched topic, the information regarding the academic and behavioral outcomes of socially promoted students is much sparser. The problem is that many students who are socially promoted into high school after…

A mixed methods convergent evaluation informed the redesign of an innovative public school that uses an accelerated model to serve grades 7-9 students who have been retained in grade level and are at risk for dropping out of school. After over 25 years in operation, a shift of practices/policies away from grade retention and toward social…

The arguments and for and against minimum grading systems have grown increasingly more intense and acrimonious in the past decade. However, there has been an absence of empirical data, theory and clear comparative analyses of conflicting points of view. Critics of minimum grading contend that the practice will produce grade inflation and social…

In an effort to reduce failure and drop-out rates, schools have been implementing minimum grading. One form involves raising catastrophically low student quarter grades to a predetermined minimum--typically a 50. Proponents argue it gives struggling students a reasonable chance to recover from failure. Critics contend the practice induces grade…

The focus of the investigation is on a sixth grade population not performing reading on grade level and not achieving high-stakes test score proficiency causing the school to fail adequate yearly progress (AYP). The lack of reading skills causes the students to repeat grades in middle school and high school. Reading technology instruction is the…

Social promotion is defined as the practice of allowing students who failed to meet performance standards and academic requirements the opportunity to pass on to the next grade with their peers. Although the A+ Educational Reform Act abolished the use of the practice, social promotion continues to occur in numerous school districts across one…

The present study examined the implications of grade retention (repeating a grade) and social promotion (automatic promotion to the next grade each year) for high school students' academic and non-academic outcomes. Based on data from 3261 high school students, structural equation modeling demonstrated that, after controlling for interactions with…

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…

Merit promotion policies that require students to post passing scores on standardized tests or be retained in grade have become widespread. In this study, the author used a cultural sociological perspective to examine how teachers and students at two urban high schools enacted a district-wide merit promotion policy. Findings indicate that rather…