Prior analyses with this sample found no harm to achievement or motivation at the transition to high school, yet retention still raises dropout odds¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2018 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The authors state there is no evidence that grade retention harms students' educational achievement or motivation at entry into high school, while retention increases the probability of dropping out before earning a diploma. → Hughes 2018

Evidence¶

Hughes 2018¶

Hughes, J. N., West, S. G., Kim, H., & Bauer, S. S. (2018). Effect of Early Grade Retention on School Completion: A Prospective Study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(7), 974-991. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000243

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Authors' synthesis in the Discussion of prior publications from this same longitudinal sample (grade-level propensity comparisons through grade 9). The quoted sentence states the disconnect; the underlying findings are from the cited prior studies, not newly tested here.

"there is no evidence that grade retention harms students' educational achievement or motivation at the point of entry into high school; yet it increases the probability of dropping out of school prior to earning a high school diploma."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Retention in grades 1-5 increases the odds of dropping out of high school rather than graduating, above propensity to be retained — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Mid-year promotions after retention neither helped nor harmed students' tested achievement in basic skills — related
• Elementary schools with high poverty and high suspension rates have higher grade retention odds among similar-achieving students — related
• Uncontrolled estimates of retention effects on dropout are larger than propensity-adjusted estimates, suggesting confounding inflates naive associations — related