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¶

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? In 1997, roughly one-third of third graders and 40% of sixth and eighth graders who did not meet the promotional test score were nevertheless promoted, largely through waivers granted by Regional Education Officers. → 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

Administrative-data analysis of 1997 promotional outcomes; among 16,744 students eligible for retention, 10,119 were retained and 5,793 promoted. "Forty percent of sixth and eighth graders who were included under the policy and did not leave the school system were promoted to the next grade despite not meeting the promotional test score."

"Forty percent of sixth and eighth graders who were included under the policy and did not leave the school system were promoted to the next grade despite not meeting the promotional test score for their grade."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• 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
• Despite higher passing rates, retention rates did not fall because fewer students who failed the cutoff were promoted with waivers — related
• Retained students made up 15 percent of tested third graders, 10 percent of sixth graders, and 4.6 percent of eighth graders in 1998 — related
• 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 — 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
• Early-grade retention rose after the policy, and roughly 20 percent of first and second graders who were retained experienced a second retention in third grade — related