Failure, better known as “falling behind”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the subject of much debate within the education system. The controversy surrounding this long-standing issue has been reinforced by topics such as the recent approval of academic standards. Research indicates that “retention rates have increased approximately 40% over the past 20 years with as many as 15% of all American students retained each year and 30-50% retained at least once before the ninth grade” (Dawson , 1998). These discouraging statistics pose numerous problems within the school system. Difficulties can be appreciated at an organizational level, as well as within the classroom and, more worryingly, within individual students. The consequences, both positive and negative, affect the entire school system. Failure is a matter that requires a prodigious amount of testing and should be considered carefully and thoroughly. Formally, failing is defined as the practice of requiring a student who has attended a particular grade level for an entire school year to return to that level. level for the following year (Jackson, 1975). Unofficially, the practice is used as a tool to enhance academic growth or development for students who are unable to meet curriculum requirements due to a variety of reasons. These reasons may include reduced cognitive functioning, physical immaturity, social-emotional difficulties, and failure to pass standardized assessments. A child may be considered for permanency if he or she has poor academic skills, is short in stature, is the youngest in the class, has moved frequently, has been absent repeatedly, performs poorly in pre-selection assessments or has limited skills in English language (Robertson, 1997). Additionally, the typical profile of a retained child is more likely to reveal an elementary school-aged student who is a black or Hispanic male with a late birthday, developmental delay, attention problems, low socioeconomic status, single-parent family with a parent who does not or cannot intervene on behalf of the child (Robertson, 1997; Mattison, 2000). Predictive health factors such as hearing and speech disorders, low birth weight, enuresis and exposure to cigarette smoke inside the home are also found in detained children (Byrd... in the center of the paper... recommended, what should parents do? ERICClearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Champaign, IL.Parker, Dennis R. (2001 Promoting or Maintaining Social Leadership, 30 (4),12-16.Jackson, G. (1975). Research evidence on the effects of grade retention. Review of Education Research, 45, 613-635. Holmes, C. T. (1989). Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. Christmas, J. A. (1991). Rethinking Educational Digest), 56 (9), 30-34. Slavin, Robert E., Karweit, N., & Wasik, B. Preventing early school failure: What works? Hammond, Linda (1998).TheSchool Administrator, 48-53.Byrd, Robert S., & Weitzman, Michael L. (1994). Predictors of early schooling among children in the United States. Pediatrics, 93 (3), 481-488.Mattison, Richard E. (2000). School consultation: A review of research on issues specific to the school environment. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolscent Psychiatry,
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