Only 43% of retained third graders and 47% of retained sixth graders met the test criteria by summer 1998 despite four chances, yet over two-thirds were promoted the next year largely due to waivers¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1999 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Among students retained in 1997 and still included in 1998, only 43% of third graders and 47% of sixth graders raised their scores enough to meet the cutoff by August 1998, but most were promoted anyway, presumably via waivers. → Melissa Roderick 1999

Evidence¶

Melissa Roderick 1999¶

Melissa Roderick, Anthony S. Bryk, Brian A. Jacob, John Q. Easton, Elaine Allensworth. (1999). Ending Social Promotion: Results from the First Two Years. Consortium on Chicago School Research. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/ending-social-promotion-results-first-two-years

q2 · i? · causal · r1

Tracking of the 1997 retained cohorts through the 1998 testing year (Figure 1-5); "Even after two years in the same grade and as many as four chances to pass the test, only 43 percent of third graders and 47 percent of sixth graders who were retained in 1997 managed to raise their scores high enough to meet the test criteria."

"Even after two years in the same grade and as many as four chances to pass the test, only 43 percent of third graders and 47 percent of sixth graders who were retained in 1997 managed to raise their scores high enough to meet the test criteria by the end of the summer of 1998."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Students who failed both reading and math made up the majority of retained students, and fewer than 20% of them passed both subjects in Summer Bridge — related
• Retained students struggled in their second time through the promotional policy, with only about half meeting cutoffs and eighth graders doing worst — related
• Fewer than 60 percent of retained third and sixth graders in 1998 and 1999 raised their test scores to the promotional cutoff even with an extra January chance to pass — related
• Waivers promoted about one-third of third graders and 40% of sixth and eighth graders who failed the 1997 promotional criteria, keeping retention rates well below failure rates — related
• Summer Bridge's second chance substantially raised promotion rates: by August 1997, 68% of included third graders, 79% of sixth graders, and 83% of eighth graders had met the cutoff — related
• Despite higher passing rates, retention rates did not fall because fewer students who failed the cutoff were promoted with waivers — related
• Passing rates improved from 1997 to 1998 in third and sixth grades, but retention rates did not decline because fewer students received waivers — related
• In 1997, 31% of third graders and about 20% of sixth and eighth graders were excluded from Chicago's promotional test-score policy, with bilingual education the main exclusion reason in third grade and special education in sixth and eighth — related