Education News and the Minnesota Daily report that new research from a University of Minnesota team helmed by John Robert Warren reveals a whopping 450,000 students between grades 1 and 8 are held back every year, and there is wide variation across states. Previously, it had been thought that most of these “retentions” were evenly distributed and happened in the first grade, with students not quite ready to move into the second. Presumably, these earlier retentions would be less likely to derail an educational track or firmly established friendship ties, but those that come further into grade school would hold further-reaching effects.
As Warren tells the Daily:
“I think first grade is kind of a formative year, it’s where you begin to do the building blocks of reading and math and it’s always hard to tell when a kid is ready to move on,” Warren said. “I think there is a sentiment, right or wrong, that it might do some good to hold a kid back in first grade to help them build those foundational skills.”
Warren’s team is the first to get a look at state-by-state data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data, and they have published their full report in the journal Education Researcher.
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Friday Roundup: November 23, 2012 (A Day Late) » The Editors' Desk — November 24, 2012
[...] “Half a Million Held Back,” by Letta Page. In which U of M research explores the timing and geographic distribution of grade school “retentions.” [...]
Leah — November 28, 2012
I agree with the idea that it is important to make sure that a child has built and developed the fundamental skills necessary for success in later grades before progressing in school, but I also believe that holding children back in school may have some negative consequences. While it is possible for children to make friends in their classes, it may be difficult for those children held back a year to keep those friends they made the first time around. When their friends move up a grade, those children held back may feel discouraged and therefore may not progress as much as originally hoped.