DATE: December 10, 2008

CONTACT: Cindy Roper, 864-656-0607
cgroper@clemson.edu

WRITER: Hannah Sykes, 864-656-2061
hsykes@clemson.edu

Houston Center report examines harmful effects of grade retention

CLEMSON — Grade retention doesn’t work for students, according to a recent policy report by Cindy G. Roper, the research and planning administrator at Clemson University’s Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education.

The report “Grade Retention and African-American Students: a Brief Look at Research, Policies, and Outcomes” said that retention policies for underachieving students are ineffective and are particularly hard-hitting for African-American students.

The report reviewed data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, which examined the retention rates of a weighted sample of 10th-grade students.

Twenty-two percent of African-Americans students were retained at least once throughout their academic careers, compared to 10 percent of white students, 16 percent of Hispanic students, 9 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander students and 15 percent of other students.

African-American students had the highest retention rates across the bottom three socioeconomic quartiles. The socioeconomic quartiles were defined by weighting the mother’s and father’s education levels, their occupations and the family’s income.

The study also found that males were more likely to be retained than females, and African-American males were held back more than other males, with a retention rate at 27 percent, compared to 13 percent of white males, 18 percent of Hispanic males, 11 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander males and 13 percent of other males.

According to the report, retention is a strong predictor for dropping out of school, as well as unemployment, requiring public assistance and imprisonment later on in life.

“Having students repeat a grade without considerable attention to new teaching and learning approaches constitutes doing the same thing over while expecting different results,” Roper said. “Being retained appears to be a rather traumatic situation for a student, one that shouldn't be expected to enhance his or her ability to learn.”

Roper said that many teachers and administrators are not aware of the research documenting the failure of retention policies and that a lack of funding and personnel may also contribute to these negative consequences.

“I and many others propose swift interventions using evidence-based methods to improve academic performance,” Roper said. “These students may need additional individual after-school or summer services in order to avoid retention and its negative consequences.”