Long-term effects of grade retention for older students

By Susan Davis, Center for Research and Reform in Education, Johns Hopkins University

Research suggests that early grade retention is less harmful than in later grades, when staying with one’s peers is especially crucial. Matthew Larsen and Jon Valant examined a Louisiana policy that assigned students with low test scores to three different placements: full retention in grade 8, promotion to grade 9, or a hybrid “grade 8.5” option where students entered high school but received 8th-grade-level instruction. This hybrid approach aimed to reduce the stigma of retention by keeping students with their peers while offering academic remediation.

Using regression discontinuity designs, the authors found that the higher a student was placed, the more likely they were to graduate from high school and enroll in college across all comparisons: grade 9 vs 8, grade 9 vs grade 8.5, and grade 8.5 vs 8. Students who were near the grade retention scores for 8^th grade were less likely to enroll in college. The authors concluded that retaining older students, even with remediation, may undermine long-term educational outcomes.