Is grade retention a useful strategy?
RETENTION Repeating the Grade is not the Magic Answer for Most Children Repeating the grade has continued to be the popular first strategy employed in Australia for children who are having learning difficulties. This is despite the fact that research into this practice since 1911 has consistently failed to show that repetition is an effective strategy for most children. In 1975, Jackson reviewed thirty studies published between 1911 and 1973 and concluded “There is no reliable body of evidence to indicate that grade retention is more beneficial than grade promotion for students with serious academic or adjustment difficulties” (p. 627). In a later meta-analysis of the research literature, Holmes and Matthews (1984) found significant differences favouring normally promoted students over retained students in each of the areas which they examined including academic achieve-ment, work study skills, personal, social, and emotional adjustment, behaviour, self-concept, attitude toward school,
