Running head: GRADE RETENTION SHOULD BE ABOLISHED

Grade Retention Should Be Abolished

Sonji Bullett
California State University, Dominguez Hills

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Does grade retention help struggling students to be up to par with their peers? The
answer to this question is No. There can be other factors that can prevent the student from
progressing like an overlooked learning disability, behavioral problems, and parental neglect.
The public school system should get rid of grade retention because administrators are not
considering the cost and the negative affect that grade retention can have on students.
The first reason why the school system should get rid of grade retention is because it
costs millions of dollars for a certain percentage of students to repeat a grade. Aldridge and
Goldman (2007), said approximately 19 million dollars was spent to have at least 3.2 million
students repeat a grade. His statement shows that it is expensive to add a year of schooling for a
percentage of failing students. Instead of spending millions on retaining students another year,
the money ought to be spent on educational needs such as resources that can help improve
students literacy skills. If it cost millions of dollars to retain a certain amount of students then it
will cost thousands of dollars just to keep one student retained another year. Therefore, instead
of spending millions on retaining students, the school system should invest into hiring tutors, so
that students can keep up with their classmates when assignments are assigned. The school
system should get rid of grade retention because it costs a whole lot of money to have a student
to repeat another year in the same grade without any options to reinforce their learning skills.
The second reason why schools should abolish grade retention is it has several negative
effects on studentswell-being. One negative effect that grade retention has on a student is that it
can cause a student to drop out of school because he has been retained in the same grade another
year. The student will drop out of school because he will develop an attitude that he is a failure.
David (2008) said, retention can boost the possibility that students will become school dropouts.
This provides support for the negative impact it has on a student. If grade retention remains a

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yearly practice by the school system, then it can continue to have a negative impact on students
socialization. By the student being retained another year, the student will find it hard to socialize
with his peers. For example, he will find it hard to socialize with students because he is too
ashamed of being held back a grade. In addition, grade retention causes the student to develop
poor self-esteem. Grade retention can have a negative effect on a student because he will become
self-conscious that he is much older than his classmates because he had been left a grade behind;
this causes the student to be effected negatively.
I experienced similar effects of a grade-retained student. It was in the beginning of June,
when I was first informed by my teacher that I will be repeating the second grade. According to
my teacher, I did not meet the grade level criteria in order to pass to the third grade. I began to
experience the negative feelings of being retained in the second grade. It affected me negatively
because it lowered my self-esteem because I was left behind without my peers. I felt that I was
dumb so I gave up on my academic goals. After entering the tenth grade, I decided that I was not
able to continue in school because I was not learning academic skills. So I decided to drop out of
high school because there was no extra help during the school day which could have provided
me with extra time for instruction. Poland (2009) said grade retention affects academic success
and may have negative psychological effects on the student. This is evidence that points to grade
retention as being a negative effect for a student.
The school system should get rid of grade retention because research and self experience
of being held back a grade has taught me that it can cause several negative effects on the
students well being. Before retaining students, the school system must first consider the cost
and the effect that it would have on students.

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References
Aldridge, J. & Goldman, R. (2007). Current issues and trends in education (2nded.). Boston,
MA: Person.
David, J. L. (2008). What research says about/ Grade retention. Reaching the Reluctant
Learner.65(6), 83-84
Poland, S. (2009). Crisis response. Grade Retention. 45(10/11) 104-104.