To Retain or Not to Retain Important Characteristics

To Retain or Not to Retain? Important Characteristics to Consider Before Making the Decision Presented by: Laura Efford Reading, Literacy, and Learning

u. Have you ever retained a student? u. What factors do you think teachers and parents should consider? u. Is retention sometimes the right thing to do?

Agenda 1. Retention Facts 2. Student Characteristics to Consider 3. School Characteristics to Consider 4. Recommendations for Practice

Retention: A Popular Practice About 10% of students K-8 retained at some time (NCES, 2009) 16 states have test-based retention policies Widespread perception that retention is beneficial

Negative Effects & Correlations Expensive: $14 billion annually (Greene & Winters, 2004) Poorer odds of pursuing post-secondary education (Fine & Davis, 2003) As adults, more likely to receive public assistance, be unemployed, or imprisoned (NASP, 2011) Negatively affects ability to persist to graduation Retained students significantly more likely to drop out of high school.

Who is Most Likely to Experience Retention? Ethnic minority Male Young for grade Low SES Increased chance of retention Singleparent home

A Failure of Social Justice? Children of color from impoverished families are greatly overrepresented. Poverty & stress affect self-regulation & attention Limited access to quality preschools Less likely to delay entry to kindergarten Enter school with different types of capital Background experiences do not prepare for White middle-class educational institutions

Retention is Ineffective Majority of studies report that retention alone is an ineffective intervention. Academic benefits fade over 2 -3 years No positive long-term benefits of early grade retention (Hong & Yu, 2007) Conflicting conclusions for socio-emotional outcomes

Should We Ever Retain? Are there certain groups of students, though, for which retention is potentially beneficial? What factors should teachers, administrators, policymakers, and parents consider when faced with decisions regarding retention?

Student Characteristics Study #1 Florida’s test-based retention policy: 3 rd grade Sample size=1, 298, 460 Retention increases the likelihood of disciplinary incidents in short-run. Effects dissipate over time Effects concentrated among low SES and African American male students 7 -9% increase in incidents for low SES students No significant effects for higher SES students Özek, U. (2015). Hold back to move forward? Early grade retention and student misbehavior. Education Finance And Policy, 10(3), 350 -377.

Student Characteristics Study #2 Kindergarten retention—Florida Sample size=6, 841 Retention in kindergarten puts students at risk for poorer school outcomes than delayed entry and atrisk but promoted peers. Retained students continue to lag behind peers throughout high school. Raffaele Mendez, L. M. , Kim, E. S. , Ferron, J. , & Woods, B. (2015). Altering school progression through delayed entry or kindergarten retention: Propensity score analysis of long-term outcomes. Journal of Educational Research, 108(3), 186 -203.

Student Characteristics Study #3 Retention in K vs. 1 st grade—Belgium Sample size=1, 734 Self-confidence & wellbeing higher in grades 1 -6 for those retained in K versus retained in 1 st grade Maybe K repeaters are too young to perceive stigma Vandecandelaere, M. , Schmitt, E. , Vanlaar, G. , De Fraine, B. , & Van Damme, J. (2016). Effects of kindergarten retention for at-risk children’s psychosocial development. Educational Psychology, 36(8), 1354 -1389.

Student Characteristics Study #4 Sample size=106 Students tracked K-11 th grade K-2 retention more successful for students: Young for grade From higher SES homes With mothers with higher levels of education With higher parental involvement Ferguson, P. , Jimerson, S. R. , & Dalton, M. J. (2001). Sorting out successful failures: Exploratory analyses of factors associated with academic and behavioral outcomes of retained students. Psychology In The Schools, 38(4), 327.

Student Characteristics Study#5 First grade retention—Texas Sample size=125 Students with lower “learning related skills” (self-regulation, ability to pay attention, cooperation) showed more rapid academic growth through 6 th grade than those retained students with higher LRS. Cannot conclude these students benefited more from retention than promotion, though. Chen, Q. , Hughes, J. N. , & Kwok, O. (2014). Differential growth trajectories for achievement among children retained in first grade: A growth mixture model. Elementary School Journal, 114(3), 327 -353.

Student Characteristics Conclusions Retention may increase disciplinary incidents in short term for low SES 3 rd graders. Kindergarten retainees do not usually catch up with delayed entry or promoted peers. BUT kindergarten retention may be more beneficial for socioemotional wellbeing than 1 st grade retention. Early grade retention more successful for kids from higher SES homes with well-educated mothers. Students with low LRS show more rapid academic growth after retention than those with higher LRS.

School Characteristics # of disciplinary incidents decrease as # of retained students increase (Ozek, 2015) Teacher attitudes powerful predictor of retention Positive effects correlate with low student-teacher ratios and individualized education plans. Teacher-based retention increases likelihood of dropping out more than test-based policies. Allensworth, E. M. (2005). Dropout rates after high-stakes testing in elementary school: A study of the contradictory effects of Chicago's efforts to end social promotion. Educational Evaluation And Policy Analysis, 27(4), 341 -364.

Recommendations for Practice Strengthen parental involvement Change mindset Early intervention Avoid retention Improve skillful teaching Engage students Build healthy school climate

Recommendations for Practice Looping Reduced class size Flexible scheduling Change the system Multi-age classrooms Universal pre-K

And If You Have to Retain? Minimize bias through team decision making. Assign classroom teacher carefully. Offer breadth of interventions and begin right away. 1 -on-1 tutoring Summer school, after school, Saturday school Retention year should be vastly different from previous year. Assess how teaching methods address that student’s needs and interests.

What are some things teachers can do now to help improve retention rates? Should test-based retention policies remain in place? Do these policies help kids succeed?

Parting Words “To pass students along in school when they are unprepared or retain them without addressing their needs denies students access to opportunities at the next level of schooling, in postsecondary education and in the workplace. ” U. S. Department of Education, 1999