She will be in Washington, DC for these oral arguments. We ll keep newsletter subscribers posted on developments in this important case. Retention doesn t work. In many cases, retention damages children. About 90 percent of children who are retained more than once drop out of school.
Social promotions don t work either.
With social promotions, we have high school graduates who can t read their diplomas. According to a study by the North Carolina Research Council at U.N.C., about one-third of N.C. children are retained at least once before ninth grade. New policies about accountability may cause this number to increase dramatically. In many cases, children are hurt. Children retained in kindergarten and first grade are more likely to be hurt.