Retention

Retention refers to the practice of holding back a student at the end of an academic year and requiring him or her to repeat a grade level.

With regard to retaining children in the early grades, research consistently indicates that retention harms self-esteem and increases the likelihood of dropping out in later years. Retention worsens rather than improves the level of student achievement in years following the repeat year (Shepard & Smith, 1990; Gutierrez & Slavin, 1992). Katz (1988) goes further in saying that when retained children repeat a curriculum that is too academic and does not match their developmental needs, they acquire a sense of incompetence or "learned stupidity" (p. 20).

Goodlad and Anderson (1987) note that the policy of retention affects most children more negatively than social promotion. Their research indicates that children who are retained have lower self-esteem and achievement in all the years following the year of retention than those students who are socially promoted.