Discusses the notion of social promotion versus grade repetition, arguing that neither approach represents an appropriate solution for enhancing the learning outcomes of low-performing students and closing the achievement gaps among students of various ethnic groups. Offers a learner-centered approach as a viable alternative and a mechanism for…

Reviews research and then describes five alternative strategies to social promotion and grade retention: Intensify learning, provide professional development to ensure skilled teachers, expand learning options, assess to inform teaching, and intervene early and often. (Contains 33 references.) (PKP)

Using interviews of students prior to and during their retained year and of their teachers, this study examined 22 students retained under Chicago's Ending Social Promotion policy. It focused on the "intervention" of retention, including how teachers shaped the retained year for students and the nature and quality of instructional…

This booklet examines ways to promote student success in a California standards-based system. It reviews the history of social promotion and retention in the United States and suggests why it is time to move beyond the "either/or" mindset. The booklet suggests that neither social promotion nor retention solves the basic problem of…

This Digest reviews the historical background on grade retention and promotion and examines research, criteria, and policies concerning these options. The historical overview points out changes in attitudes toward mastery-based promotion and social promotion practices in the schools. Valid and invalid approaches to research on grade retention are…

This digest highlights major research findings about social promotion, retention, and programs that identify and assist students at risk of retention. Research findings indicate that, overall, neither social promotion nor retention offers lasting advantage nor leads to high performance. Some evidence supports, and little evidence disputes, the…

This policy brief presents an in-depth look at the issue of grade-retention in Texas, reviews research that finds this practice to be ineffective, and outlines alternatives to both retention and social promotion. In-grade retention has been a recurrent theme in education over the last 30 years, and it is currently linked to calls for higher…

The potentially contradictory effects of high-stakes testing on dropout rates both through rising retention rates and improving achievement, further complicate the question of the effects of high-stakes testing-based retention on dropping out. There are no studies that have tracked students over a number of years to determine the effects of this…

Survey responses of 407 elementary school principals revealed that the factors most influencing principals' decisions to retain students include lack of mastery of material, local and state accountability standards, and the student's maturity level and chronological age. Principals also believe children should be retained in the early years.…

Shows how multiage grouping in the primary grades can support school improvement. Acknowledging chronological age as a crude indicator of learning readiness, multiage programs emphasize grouping children within classes based on readiness, interest, and/or acquired knowledge. This article explains program benefits, disadvantages, implementation…

Ending all social promotion is ill-advised. A responsible decision on grade retention should be based on factors such as a child's age, health, maturity, testing readiness, previous academic performance, and available emedial services. Many retained children do not show enough improvement to justify the practice. (MLH)

This article reports a new debate on mayoral control over New York City schools. Mayoral control of the N.Y.C. schools was at the center of renewed debate, after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg replaced two members of the city's education policymaking board to ensure enough votes for a controversial plan he backed to end social promotion. The shakeup…

Social promotion has long been the normal practice in American schools. Critics of this practice, whereby students are promoted to the next grade regardless of academic preparation, have suggested that students would benefit academically if they were made to repeat a grade. Supporters of social promotion claim that retaining students (i.e, holding…

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…

To make a case against recently passed legislation in Georgia banning social promotion, one must start by examining the state's rationale for the decision that based on the perceived views teachers have on the issue. Research suggests, however, that teachers hold contradictory opinions concerning the use of standardized tests for high-stakes…