Seven separate reports survey the literature and current thinking in the following topic areas: optimum school and class sizes, organization of schools into appropriate grade-level groups, the benefits and disadvantages of ability grouping, the decline in student achievement as measured by standardized tests, the expansion of kindergarten…

This review summarizes pertinent literature on the differential impact of primary versus secondary public education on students. Data show that junior high/middle school students with prominent elementary school maladjustments have a 5-13-fold greater rate of grade failure, suspension, and undue absenteeism than do students without such…

Student promotion or retention is determined by various criteria: grades, student performance, competency tests, attendance records, and conduct. Representative court decisions bearing on each of the criteria are discussed, and guidelines for the development of promotion and retention policy are outlined. (MD)

This report provides information on the status of summer schools in New York City in 2000. The report describes: (1) "Planning and Management"; (2) "Student Information" (319,167 students were preregistered for summer school, and 87.9 percent of mandated students attended, compared to 64.4 percent the year before); (3)…

This paper reviews the policy context of school retention and shows that age-grade retardation has been common and growing in American schools from the 1970s-90s. The paper focuses on the period from 1972-98 and on grade retardation at ages 6, 9, 12, 15, and 17 years. By age 9 years, the odds of grade-retardation among African American and…

This booklet discusses strategies for reducing repetition of grades by students at primary, secondary, and higher education levels. Large numbers of pupils repeat their grades every year, and these repetition rates are considered good indicators of an educational system's effectiveness. A high repetition rate indicates that a large number of…

This paper responds to President Clinton's call for an end to social promotion. The article reports on a study that examined the effects of social promotion on students, looked at alternatives to social promotion, and investigated how teachers in a representative public school district perceive social promotion. Data were gathered from 46…

This paper reviews the extent and consequences of grade retention in elementary and secondary school. The first part of the paper reviews recent proposals for test-based grade promotion and retention. These are based on politically attractive, but scientifically unsupported claims about the benefits of retention, and minority students are more…

This document contains statistical information for the following performance targets for school years 2002-03 and 2003-04 in the state of Hawaii: (1) reading; (2) mathematics; (3) graduation; and (4) retention. The federal "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law requires the state to report this information. The state performance of these groups are…

The purpose of this analysis was to examine the persistence, graduation and transfer rates for the recipients of an Educational Assistance Grant (EAG) or Guaranteed Access Grant (GAG) at Maryland public colleges and universities compared to students at these campuses who did not receive either of these awards. The report focuses on new full-time…

Results of the study showed a higher failure rate for boys than for girls. In a comparison of the races, the results that more whites than Negroes are retained in the first grade contradict those of other studies. (BY)

Though kindergarten was originally intended to be innocent and provide children with rich experiences, it is now more like a mini-first grade, with tremendous pressures for students to achieve academically. It is important for children to find kindergarten pleasurable because it is a bridge to their future in education. (SM)

Examines the extent to which retaining low achieving students affects the average reading scores of the grade in which they are retained and the next higher grade. Analyzes data from one elementary school in Kansas City (Missouri). (FMW)

Summarizes 6 recent studies of students in grades K-8 that examined learning effects of the following: reading stories to young children, student cooperative behaviors, teaching a keyword mnemonic technique to learning-disabled students, interrogative elaborative activity during reading, retention in grade, and a behavior management program for…

This study examined effects of delayed school entry on later elementary school grade retention and special education service rates. Students (n=279) who delayed school entry were most often male and were placed in special education programs in significantly higher proportions than nondelayed-entry students. No significant effect of delayed entry…