The Impact of Grade Retention: A Developmental Approach

784 ethnically diverse students, first grade students were recruited and followed with annual assessments of academic, behavioral, and social functioning for 14 years. Aim 1 was to use a bilingual, prospective longitudinal methodology to test the effects of grade retention on students’ subsequent academic, social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes and to examine the social processes that mediate retention’s effects at different ages and grades. Aim 2 was to test theoretical models of child and environmental factors that influence academic trajectories of academically at-risk children, with a specific focus on social-relational processes. Aim 3 was to investigate the role of ethnicity, language, and culture as they relate to the first two specific aims. Over 50 journal articles reports results. Grade retention does not impair academic achievement but negatively impacts high school graduation. Peer and teacher relationships are key to students’ school engagement and achievement.