Third Grade Level Retention In Schools

POLICY ANALYSIS RETENTION & ADVANCEMENT 2 Introduction Schools labeled academically unacceptable, low performing schools in general, schools and teachers bearing the burden of low test scores; these are the indicators of schools that have a retention problem. These schools are either victims of poorly designed retention policies, or they themselves perpetuate these poorly designed policies. How is a student at the ninth grade level, who reads at a third grade level going to be successful? Why are we promoting kids to the next level when they show absolutely no growth as a learner? Are we asking our middle schools and high schools to bridge too large a gap in terms of achievement?
These are the questions that arise when examining retention and advancements. This paper will study the practice of grade level retention, briefly examining the historical perspectives that have driven the state statutes that govern the practice of grade level retention. This paper will continue by examining current state practices and how said statutes are incorporated into our San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) local promotion and retention policy. The paper will conclude by offering some insight into how the local policy can be altered to more closely align with the state statutes, as well as successful policies of neighboring districts. Retention Statistics Given the dynamic of testing in our state and district one might assume that the highest retention rates in the district would fall in the fifth and eighth grade. Those are the two years prior to high school that state testing occurs. According to the Texas Education Association (TEA) 2011-2012 dropout data shown in Table 1, the SAISD retained 8 of 3903 fifth