But third graders' learning gains actually declined after the policy was implemented. And students who were retained were not helped by a second pass through the grade they failed. The findings regarding early retention indicate that promotion gateways should not be introduced in early grades. Rather, student progress should be closely tracked from the earliest grades, with swift remediation provided to students who are lagging. The transitions into middle and high school also warrant special attention for students at risk of retention-both before and after a transition is made.
Sound decisions require multiple assessments.
The decision to promote a student should not be made on the basis of a single test, and especially not a single administration of a single test. Standards developed by several professional societies condemn use of a single administration of a single assessment to make any high stakes decision, instead encouraging the use of several sources of evidence in making such decisions. Therefore, provisions should be made for students to take accountability tests more than once if necessary and for local educators to use additional evidence in making promotion decisions. There is some evidence that with extra assistance retained students may do better academically for up to three years than they would have done if promoted. If policymakers wish to minimize the chance that retained students will be harmed, and maximize the chances that they will be helped, then policy should call for special assistance to continue during and beyond the year in which the student is retained.