Grade retention and tracking students into remedial instruction undermine achievement, while formative assessment with acceleration strategies improves learning¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2020 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Research shows grade retention and 'down tracking' into remedial instruction undermine achievement rather than remedying learning loss. → Darling-Hammond 2020

Evidence¶

Darling-Hammond 2020¶

Darling-Hammond, L., Schachner, A., & Edgerton, A. K. (with Badrinarayan, A., Cardichon, J., Cookson, P. W., Jr., Griffith, M., Klevan, S., Maier, A., Martinez, M., Melnick, H., Truong, N., Wojcikiewicz, S.). (2020). Restarting and reinventing school: Learning in the time of COVID and beyond. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. http://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/restarting-reinventing-school-covid

q2 · i? · review · r2

In the Priority 3 section on assessment, the report cites research showing that 'grade retention and “down tracking” actually undermine achievement,' recommending instead formative assessment with actionable feedback and tailored acceleration strategies. No effect size is printed.

"While many districts and educators may feel pressure to address learning loss by holding students back or tracking them for remedial instruction, research shows that grade retention and “down tracking” actually undermine achievement."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Assessment for learning improves achievement — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Chicago's algebra-for-all policy led schools to create more mixed-ability math classrooms when eliminating remedial classes — related
• Taking English I instead of remedial English increased English credit earning with no adverse consequences on failure rates or test scores — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The double-dose policy led schools to track algebra classes by entering math skills, making classrooms more homogeneous in ability — related
• Four remedial reading interventions combined improved phonemic decoding, word reading accuracy and fluency, and reading comprehension for third-grade struggling readers one year after the interventions ended, though not on all measures — related
• In one NVCC summer bridge cohort, 100 percent of students continued to the next semester, described as much higher than normal retention rates — related
• Short-term remediation covering missed grade 3 material in grade 4 halves the long-term loss, but leaves the cohort 0.55 years behind the no-shock counterfactual — related
• Remediation combined with long-term reorientation of instruction to children's learning levels fully mitigates the shock and surpasses the no-shock counterfactual by more than a year of learning — related
• Large majorities of incoming California community college students place into remedial-level mathematics and English — related
• Requiring all students to take college-prep ninth-grade courses did not increase dropout or reduce graduation, including for low-ability students — related