Every year over 2 million American school children are retained in the same grade. And, retention is sometimes recommended to help children who have missed a lot of school due to illness or frequent moves, or who are just beginning to learn English. Although in some school districts, retention is used frequently, especially with kindergarten and first grade children, the practice is very controversial among educators and researchers. Furthermore, retention appears to be a discriminatory practice as boys, Blacks and Hispanics are far more likely to be retained than are other students. Promoted peers with similar skills fare at least as well academically, and often do better.
Retention is generally unsuccessful even at kindergarten or first grade.
While some research suggests that retention has more negative effects for older students, even retention of kindergarten children appears to be an ineffective intervention. Research indicates that students are more likely to be hurt by retention than helped, regardless of grade level. Furthermore, research suggests that early retainees are most likely to be identified for special education or other remedial services later, making it critical that failing young children are thoroughly evaluated to determine need for specialized instruction rather than merely retained. There simply is no evidence that children will mature faster or adjust better when retained. Students do not benefit emotionally from retention, and many retained students experience more mental health problems later in middle school and high school.