Discusses the practice of retaining children in grade, and presents evidence against the procedure. Posits that failing children only increases the likelihood that they will perform poorly in school, develop poor self-concepts, and eventually drop out of school. Retention also disproportionately affects poor and minority children, males, and…

Aggregate data on grade-retention rates for grades 1 through 12 from 12 American states for 1979-80 and 11 for 1985-86 were examined for across-grade patterns. A negative growth exponential model appears to capture a basic underlying pattern of grade retention rates. (SLD)

Provides practical advice about methods to prevent reading failure that are grounded in new research about reading. The focus is on identifying children who need extra help before they experience reading failure and identify those who may need extra help as they progress through elementary school. Some commonly used diagnostic measures are…

Examines student motivation and achievement in relation to Attribution Theory. Asked public school students to indicate causes they attributed to success or failure in music. Shows that students place more importance on ability and effort as causal attributions. Grade, school level, and school system have significant effects on student response.…

Investigated the occurrence of grade retention across all socioeconomic classes in urban and suburban populations, focusing on the effects of alcohol abuse, school suspension, violence, and lack of discipline in the home. Surveys of 243 African-American adolescent boys indicated that there was a positive association between number of suspensions…

Examines three children's early experiences of school literacy lessons to consider what makes a difference in their relative success and failure during the first months of school. Argues that how, whether, and to what extent children take up what teachers make available to them is inextricably connected with the repertoires of practices and…

Offers a case study of one student's struggles with the demands of school literacy throughout his primary school years. Illustrates how such children rely on the innovation, energy, and good will of individual teachers; and how his fragile literacy is under threat in the transition to more fragmented learning environment of secondary school. (SR)

Investigates the fears pre-internship student teachers have and compares the students rated as having "outstanding" versus "good" teaching potential. Reveals that the top two fears are inadequacy in discipline and failing as a teacher; both groups demonstrated the former while the "good" students expressed the latter twice as frequently as the…

This introductory article discusses social contexts that help promote either student success or student failure. It explores the effects of family, peers, neighborhood and community, and school on student learning and achievement. The content of following articles is described. (Contains references.) (CR)

Used interviews with a diverse group of parents of children who struggled academically in school to examine the effects of school troubles on mothers. Overall, the material and emotional burden for children's schoolwork fell to the mothers, many of whom felt overwhelmed and believed that the demands of schooling had diminished their quality of…

Examines student success in a freshman chemistry course that involves students who are at risk of failure. (Contains 14 references.) (YDS)

This article presents a contextual picture of the learning disabilities (LD) field in Portugal, where the public school failure rate is approximately 37% and 29% in primary and secondary systems, respectively. The need for a clear educational and legislative definition of LD, changes in assessment and treatment models, and improved personnel…

This meta-analysis builds on past qualitative reviews examining different attributions that observers give for other women's and men's successes and failures. Results suggest the greatest support for the argument that differences in expectations for women's and men's performances on masculine tasks influence the selection of stable or unstable…

Evaluates the relationship between within-district transfers and achievement among elementary schools in metropolitan system. Negative correlations were indicated with significant differences in reading, mathematics, language and total achievement battery scores favoring schools with little or no student mobility. Discusses implications and…

Teachers, principals, school systems, parents, and textbook publishers have been blamed for students' failure to meet tougher standards. Instead, expectations for achieving unreasonable state and Goals 2000 standards should be critically examined. Testing state legislators, school board members, administrators, and teachers might illuminate the…