Grade Retention: Yay or Nay?

Grade Retention

By Cassandra E. Wilson

Student retention has become a topic for debate among many educators in the last decade. Personally, like other political issues, I stray from engaging in conversations pertaining to student retention because my perspective feels like the Devil’s advocacy among my peers. But, here goes nothing!

I think the practice of student retention is archaic and impractical because not only does it waste time and resources having a student re-do an entire year, it has the potential to hinder the student’s emotional growth and overall success. I do think students, or anyone for that matter, should value their responsibilities and have some accountability to ensure a certain standard is met, but retention is not a feasible solution for inefficiency. In a romantic world, everyone would work hard for what they want and feel motivated by their accomplishments and failures, but that is not an accurate representation of most people. Today, success is often hindered by socio-economic conflicts, including poverty or illness, and adding another level to these social barriers is a sociological recipe for disaster.

Being from a community where the drop-out rate is close to 50%, I have a deeper sociological understanding of educational practices that are more realistic. Instead of providing a failing grade or “holding back” individuals who fail to meet provincial requirements, I think educators need to provide interventions to off-track students before they reach that point. This approach is not an outlandish concept, nor does it require an extravagant amount of energy, whereas having a student simply repeat an entire course or year again does. If teachers become more intune with their student’s individual needs and challenges, and provide subsequent colleagues with an overview of that information and current intervention plans and goals, the student can flourish at their own speed, with minimal exertion. If a student is severely behind their peers, then a more rigorous intervention plan must be adapted, in lieu of retention.

While some schools may promote grade retention, and some may be neutral on the practice, there are others that recognize the validity of research and strive to implement individual educational plans instead. If interventions are implemented early enough when a child is falling behind standard requirements, there is no need for grade retention. I’m not saying your students won't recognize that they pass anyways and take advantage of it, but that's where educators need to step up and make meaningful lessons that are intriguing and inspiring.

I think we are in need of a paradigm shift regarding retention. Ultimately, within the education system, students are preparing for their futures by engaging in topics that are socially important, and relevant for them personally as they pave way for their futures. For instance, students who are interested in math and science will become enthralled with those disciplines and strive to do well if their aspiring career demands post-secondary education, and others will explore what interests them. If we (society) can think about education as students hitting certain benchmark skills before progressing, and progressing should not be just tied to the age of the student, then the issue would not be about 'holding back' but of hitting the skill target before progressing to the next stage. We are not there yet, and because 'holding back' is seen as a huge negative to the student, parents, and peers, and the research says it is better to let the student continue on with IEPs instead. My community has a detrimentally low graduation rate because we are failing our youth through arbitrary grade retention and failing marks, and I wholeheartedly believe in the power of individual educational plans instead.

Thank-you :)

For further information including stats check out:

https://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_311JCR.pdf

(Cannon, J. S., & Lipscomb, S. (n.d.). Early Grade Retention and Student Success: Evidence from Los Angeles.)