Pros and Cons of Retention

     Retaining a student, or holding them back, has its pros and cons just like social promotion.  It allows students an opportunity to better learn the material they may not have understood the first time.  However, it separates them from their peers.  Again the most important thing to consider is whether the benefits of retaining a child outweighs the negative effects.
     Researchers say that the main reasons to consider retaining a child are:  if the student is having major difficulties in math, reading, or writing; is unable to reach the academic level required to be promoted to the next grade; or the student seems immature for his or her age.  By retaining a student it will give him or her the opportunity to go through the material again and potentially better learn it.  It will also give him or her another year to catch up maturity wise.  Retention is best accepted in the lower grades, such as kindergarten and first grade.  Students in these grades appear to face the least negative side effects of retention.  Retention is more likely to be even more successful if the retained students are given extra help in the areas they are struggling with, instead of just facing the exact same situation as the year before.
     Retention does have several negative consequences.  Retained students are often those who show behavioral problems and typically are the ones most likely to drop out later in school.  Academic achievement of retained students is typically poorer than their peers who were promoted.  Any gains that may occur often vanish if the student is retained more than two grade levels.  Being retained does negatively affect many students self esteem by separating them from their peers, creating a lowered feeling of self worth.
     Like social promotion, retention has a list of negative effects.  It also has its benefits.  What I've observed is that it is very situational as to what will work best.  For younger students, such as those in kindergarten and first grade, retention has many positive outcomes.  However, when older students are retained behavioral problems typically occur.  Social promotion has the potential to work depending on the type of students the student in question is surrounded by.  If the student is surrounded by those who strive to succeed academically, then he or she will most likely also try to do so as well.  However, if the student is surrounded by those uninterested in learning and who do not want to put forth any effort in school, he or she will most likely also have that attitude and not try.  As I said earlier, it is very situational as to which method will work best.  All aspects of the student's life should be taken into account before deciding whether to retain or promote a student who is struggling.

Pros and Cons of Social Promotion

     Social promotion has its benefits, as well as its cons.  What is important is to decide which outweighs the other.  It is important to determine whether promoting students, despite their ability to perform academically, is better for their well being than retaining them to help learn the material would be.  In this post I will point out what researchers believe the benefits of social promotion are, as well as what its downfalls are.
     The first and foremost benefit of social promotion is that it will prevent psychological damage.  Students who are retained are separated from their friends, which often leads them to believe they are not as good as their friends.  This typically makes them have a lowered self esteem because they don't see themselves as being as successful as their friends who have passed to the next grade.  By promoting students and keeping them with their peers this damage can be avoided.  It is believed that students will work better if they are passed on to the next grade because they will strive to be as good as their peers.  They will work harder to stay in the same classes with their friends in order to keep their statuses in their social circles.  They will do what it takes to avoid being separated from their friends.
     This may be the case if their friends are the type who work hard to make good grades, but what happens when students are surrounded by other students who just keep sliding by and being passed on?  If none of them strive to succeed then is promoting them on really doing them any good?  By continuing to pass groups of students along without them being able to perform basic academic skills, such as reading and simple mathematics, what is going to happen to them when they try to join the workforce?  While helping with self esteem while in school, it is in turn hurting students once they graduate.  They are hit at once with the difficulties they will forever face on getting a job.  Socially promoting students also teaches them that failure is okay and should be accepted.  They are being taught that even though they cannot do something, it's okay because they can get by without it.  Again, this is something that may work while getting through school, but when they graduate and begin looking for a job, won't work.  Employers won't keep employees that continuously mess up.  So while social promotion may prevent self esteem damage while the students are in school, is it worth what they will face when they graduate?

 

What's the point?

     Some may be wondering what exactly the title of my blog is referring to, so I will do my best to explain.  Social promotion is allowing a student to continue on to his or her next grade regardless of his or her understanding of the material that was supposed to be learned.  This is often what happens to those "troubled" students who just seem to be passed on year after year despite not being able to do the most basic skills, such as reading simple sentences or doing addition.  The justification for this is that it is more damaging to the student's self-esteem to hold them back a grade to give them another chance to learn the material.
     The argument for retention, or holding a student back a grade, is that it provides them another opportunity to learn the material covered in that grade.  However, many would argue that it causes significant emotional and mental damage to students by separating them from their peers.  There is material supporting both sides of this argument, but no clear conclusion.  Both have their positive sides and negative sides.  No matter what you believe is the best option, it is a subject that both sides should be looked into in depth and discussed.  This is what I hope my blog will be able to do.  The following posts will further go into this subject with one focusing on social promotion and the other on grade retention.  I will go into the pros and cons of both sides and try to discover what I believe the best solution is, while also allowing you to decide for yourself by providing unbiased information.