Policies calling for holding children back a grade in elementary school to improve their reading skills are widespread—if unpopular—across the United States.
However, the benefits to students appear to come from the support services put in place once they are flagged to repeat a grade—not the retention itself—according to a study by the University of Michigan.
The researchers from U-M’s Ford School of Public Policy examined a policy that dictated students scoring below a certain threshold on the third grade reading exam were flagged for retention. That means in the absence of some exemption, the students would be required to repeat third grade.
Such policies are common in many states, covering more than a third of public school third graders in 2023-24, though they typically include a range of good-cause exemptions. Supporters say holding a child back can provide them the extra time and instruction to learn critical literacy skills before moving on to more difficult material.
The researchers used administrative data from Michigan to compare two groups of third graders facing the test-based retention policy: Children who scored just below the test score cutoff—flagging them as eligible for being held back—to otherwise identical children who scored just above it.
The most interesting—and surprising—finding? Children flagged for retention experienced boosts in their reading scores the next year—even if they weren’t retained. The researchers provided evidence it was likely what the schools offered those students, such as small-group instruction in school, before- or after-school programs or summer school.
“This is important for at least two reasons: First, it shows that these types of services can benefit children, and second, it shows retention itself may not be necessary to improve student achievement,” said study co-author Brian Jacob, professor of education policy and economics at U-M’s Ford School of Public Policy.
“This last point is important because retention is extremely unpopular among parents, educators and many policymakers.”
Michigan enacted a third grade retention law in 2016, but the state legislature passed a law in 2023 repealing the retention component while keeping the supportive services in place.
From a policy perspective, Jacob and colleagues say the findings raise questions about the usefulness of test-based grade retention. It isn’t merely unpopular among students, parents and educators, it’s also costly and creates challenges for schools aiming to balance class sizes and teaching loads.
Even though many states have policies similar to what Michigan had, the researchers caution their findings might not apply in places that differ in demographics or the specifics of their state reading laws. However, they raise valid questions about the true catalyst of improving reading skills in retention laws.
The task ahead, they say, would be for researchers to collect data containing information on the services individual students receive before and after the retention decision. This will likely require data typically found in local schools or districts and may spur the need for teams with expertise in survey and qualitative research.
Jacob co-authored the study with Christina Weiland, professor of education and public policy and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative; Jordan Berne, who earned his doctorate in economics from U-M; and Katharine Strunk, dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education.
Written by Jeff Karoub, Michigan News
