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Comparison of the academic and social-psychological status of retained and non-retained elementary school students
Abstract
This study compared the academic and social-psychological status of students who had been retained in first grade with that of non-retained age and grade peers five years following their initial first grade year. Four hundred eight students from an urban, midwestern school district participated in this study. Eighty-eight students were 5th graders who had been retained in first grade. Fifty-eight 6th grade students whose first grade achievement test scores were highly similar to those of the students who were retained were classified as socially promoted. The other students were regularly promoted students from intact fifth and sixth grade classrooms; 139 were in fifth grade and 123 were in sixth grade. Information was obtained from multiple sources, including the students themselves, their cumulative records, and their teachers, peers, and parents. The dependent measures obtained for all students included group achievement test scores, information from self-report measures of self-concept and locus of control scales, and a brief survey of attitudes toward retention. Current grades and teachers' ratings of behavioral functioning were obtained for retained and socially promoted students. Peer ratings of sociometric status were obtained from intact classrooms. Parents of retained students completed a questionnaire concerning their experiences with the retention process. Other factors, such as gender, socio-economic status, age at entrance into kindergarten, prior and present attendance patterns, and ability were analyzed to examine their relationship to current academic and social-psychological status. Retained and socially promoted students were functioning significantly lower than their regularly promoted peers in all areas except sociometric status; however, differences between retained and socially promoted students were minimal. No support for long term academic benefits or social-psychological benefits was found for retention. Most of the negative social-psychological effects appeared to be related to continued academic difficulties and not retention or social promotion per se.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Elementary education
Recommended Citation
Rose, Janet S, "Comparison of the academic and social-psychological status of retained and non-retained elementary school students" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9219385.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9219385