This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hong, G. Articles by Raudenbush, S. W. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Effects of Kindergarten Retention Policy on Children’s Cognitive Growth in Reading and Mathematics

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto

Stephen W. Raudenbush

University of Michigan

Grade retention has been controversial for many years, and current calls to end social promotion have lent new urgency to this issue. On the one hand, a policy of retaining in grade those students making slow progress might facilitate instruction by making classrooms more homogeneous academically. On the other hand, grade retention might harm high-risk students by limiting their learning opportunities. Analyzing data from the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten cohort with the technique of multilevel propensity score stratification, we find no evidence that a policy of grade retention in kindergarten improves average achievement in mathematics or reading. Nor do we find evidence that the policy benefits children who would be promoted under the policy. However, the evidence does suggest that children who are retained learn less than they would have had they instead been promoted. The negative effect of grade retention on those retained has little influence on the overall mean achievement of children attending schools with a retention policy because the fraction of children retained in those schools is quite small. Nevertheless, the effect of retention on the retainees is considerably large.

Key Words: causal inference • grade retention • kindergartners • math growth • propensity score • principal stratification • reading growth

Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Vol. 27, No. 3, 205-224 (2005)
DOI: 10.3102/01623737027003205


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. L. Lauen To Choose or not to Choose: High School Choice and Graduation in Chicago Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, September 1, 2009; 31(3): 179 - 199. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Hong and Y. Hong Reading Instruction Time and Homogeneous Grouping in Kindergarten: An Application of Marginal Mean Weighting Through Stratification Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, March 1, 2009; 31(1): 54 - 81. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Hong and B. Yu Early-Grade Retention and Children's Reading and Math Learning in Elementary Years Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 1, 2007; 29(4): 239 - 261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Correnti An Empirical Investigation of Professional Development Effects on Literacy Instruction Using Daily Logs Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, December 1, 2007; 29(4): 262 - 295. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Guevremont, N. P. Roos, and M. Brownell Predictors and Consequences of Grade Retention: Examining Data From Manitoba, Canada Canadian Journal of School Psychology, June 1, 2007; 22(1): 50 - 67. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. Correnti and B. Rowan Opening Up the Black Box: Literacy Instruction in Schools Participating in Three Comprehensive School Reform Programs American Educational Research Journal, June 1, 2007; 44(2): 298 - 339. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]