Early Grade Retention

I was actually quite stunned about the information I learned from my research and reading about the effects of retaining students back a grade. I had always believed holding students back a grade was beneficial for the student, and in their best interest. However, what I did not suspect was to find an tremendous amount of controversial arguments, favoring students should not be retained, because of all of the negative side effects. Like one of the arguments I had read about I believed children should be retained if they were not up to par, or had behavioral issues that needed to be dealt with before they could move up a grade. "...noted that the decision to retain a student is often based on assumptions that all children can be successful in their curriculum, ... and that
Both of these arguments hit the same key notes, especially that retaining a student a grade level can lead to them ultimately dropping out of school. "Longitudinal studies also revealed that grade retention was linked to increased risk for dropping out of school, to the extent that early grade retention was "one of the most powerful predictors of later school withdrawal"" (Silberglitt, Appleton, Burns, and Jimerson). This same arguments was also brought up in Pearson, I know believe retaining students a grade level is not the best solution, and there must be other ways teachers and school systems can help decrease the need for holding students back a grade level. For example, if a student is able to get the attention and teaching they need when they are in class, they should not need to be retained another