They know only that retained children do better than they did in their first year of kindergarten. But these relatively few academic benefits do not usually persist into later grades. Retained children know that they are not making normal progress. Kindergarten retention is traumatic and disruptive for children. This conclusion is supported by our extensive interviews with parents of retained children.
Most parents report significant negative emotional effects associated with retention.
Parents' qualitative assessments of their retained children also support our arguments about the social stigma of retention. Kindergarten retention also has a negative consequence over the long run. Children who are too old for their grade are much more likely than their classmates to drop out of school. The fad to flunk kindergartners is the product of inappropriate curriculum. For the last 20 years, there has been a persistent escalation of academic demand on kindergartners and first-graders.