STUDENT RETENTION

Can Retention Be Good for a Student?



Can Retention Be Good for a Student?

Introduction

Grade retention, also known as non-promotion, hang, do not pass this year, being held in the same grade or a gift of time, refers the child to repeat their current grade level again next year. Whether you have used to treat low performance and / or behavior problems, usually the investigations have found no performance or results in favorable changes to retained students.

However, retention rates have increased. This trend seems to be strongly influenced by the recent movement to "reform" that places emphasis on educational standards and accountability at grade level, national or statewide and tests accompanying grade level to determine which students promoted to the next grade.

It was extremely difficult to make my mind on which side I am going to take when I chose this debate; it has seen that retention was beneficial for many students who are in primary schools. I have distorted my judgment and have conclude that grade retention; may be a small term fix for improving students but in my view retention is only beneficial for students and candidates in longer time-period. In the paper, we will discuss my argument view point.

The Dilemma of Retention

Research indicates that neither grade retention nor social promotions (the practice of promoting students with their age peers despite not having mastered the contents of the current grade level) are likely to improve the child's learning or girl. Both research and common sense indicate that simply make a child repeat the grade does not improve the chances of solving the problems that the child is experiencing (Treise, Weigold, 2002). Also, just to promote a student who is experiencing academic or behavioral problems to the next grade without additional support is also not an efficient solution.

When faced with a recommendation to retain a child, the real task is to decide whether or not to precede with retention, but rather intervention strategies to improve cognitive and social development of the child and promote learning and success in school.

Effects of grade retention

The body of research on retention indicates that:

The initial academic improvements can occur throughout the year in which the student is retained. However, many research studies show a decrease in the achievements. For most students, grade retention has a negative impact on all areas of performance (example, Reading, math and oral and written) and emotional adaptation (example, Relations with equal, self-esteem, behavioral problems and attendance). A study of the perceptions of children in sixth grade said they consider retention as one of the events in life more stressful. Retention may help students who have been absent from school for many days, but only if your attendance improves and if the child will not be significantly higher than other students. However, at this time, no indicators that predict which children would benefit from retention.

Alternative strategies

However, investigations do provide evidence supporting the effectiveness of other educational interventions. The following are alternatives based on the evidence, grade retention and social promotion ...