Chapter 3: Grade Retention and School Dropout: Another Look at the Evidence

Grade retention has become an important practice in school reform. In response to increased demands for accountability by taxpayers, parents, and policymakers, school districts across the country now rely more heavily on grade retention (also called grade repetition) and associated remedial services to improve student achievement (Heubert & Hauser, 1999; Rothstein, 1998; Temple, 1998). One of the most well-known of these efforts is in the Chicago Public Schools (Roderick, Bryk, Jacob, Easton, & Allensworth, 1999; Roderick, Jacob, & Bryk, 2002), but others include New York, Philadelphia, and Houston. In addition, state legislators from coast to coast have also adopted state-wide accountability initiatives that include the related goal of ending social promotion.