The effects of social promotion and retention on student performance
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Authors
Churchill, Christina M.
Issue Date
1998
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Teaching
Alternative Title
Abstract
In any given school year, nearly every teacher will have a previously retained student in the class. The reality is that these children exist in almost every classroom. In fact, of the twenty students in my third grade class of an inner city school, only four students are performing at or above grade level. Promoted or retained students require additional assistance from their teachers to support them in their learning.
To begin understanding the needs of the students, one must first examine the practices of social promotion and retention and their effects on the children. The initial focus of my thesis was to disprove the theory of social promotion by establishing retention as the better avenue. Upon reviewing the studies it was evident that neither promotion nor retention was in the students' best interests. Former U.S. Education Secretary Lamar Alexander [says] passing a child from grade to grade is no favor. It's [like] sending a soldier into battle unarmed. The chances of failure are enormous" (Ordovensky, 1997, p. 5). Conversely, Alexander, Entwisle, and Dauber (1994) concluded that the "concerns about the stigma of retention must be high on the agenda, because a youngster who is harmed emotionally may bear permanent scars" (p. 23). These discoveries led the purpose of the thesis in an alternative direction.
My thesis research later evolved into the discovery of a method to aid students in advancing their academic performance towards grade level. Specifically, I developed a program to concentrate on retained students in my classroom, as well as students who were at-risk of retention.