Retention is strongly associated with dropping out of school in later years. A second retention makes dropping out a virtual certainty. Retained students suffer lower self-esteem and view retention as a punishment and a stigma, not a positive event designed to help them. African American students and Hispanic students are retained at twice the rate of White students. Forty percent of repeaters come from the lowest socio-economic quartile as compared to only 8.5 percent from the highest quartile.
Retention is expensive.
The following highlights are based largely on these TEA reports. Consistently, significantly more males are retained than females. Male students made up over 60 percent of all retained students during 1993-1997. Contrary to the national pattern that shows the highest number of students are retained in first grade, retention in Texas occurs most frequently in ninth grade. One out of six ninth grade students repeats that grade every year.