Amy Reschly is an associate professor of educational psychology and director of the School Psychology Program at the University of Georgia.
I asked her to write a piece based on her recent academic paper with Sandra Christenson, "Grade Retention: Historical Perspectives and New Research," published in the Journal of School Psychology. Additional information about grade retention and social promotion, including a summary of research, may be found at the
National Association of School Psychologists website: By Amy Reschly
Many students will begin the new academic year in the same grade they did last year. This practice, known as grade retention, remains stubbornly and paradoxically common, despite clear results regarding the ineffectiveness of this approach to remediate students’ academic deficiencies and the high costs associated with it.
The enduring popularity of grade retention is an interesting example of how poorly research, politics, and policy can
