This study adds a counterbalance: If students get proper help and attention, they may be able to improve on low performance, given a little extra time. Following on the stereotype of the too-tall kid crammed into a too-small desk in the back row, previous research has looked at the potential downsides of grade retention: stigma, peer group mismatch and reduced expectations from teachers. Nationwide, about one in 10 children must repeat at least one grade, and they tend to be disproportionately low-income or come from minority groups. And, it doesn't affect their likelihood of finishing high school. Now comes a big study to say something different: Holding kids back at third grade when they don't meet the academic standards will give them a boost in achievement, by some measures. For one thing, they will earn more money on average over a lifetime with that head start into the workforce. That researcher concluded that it's usually better to go ahead and enroll kids as soon as they're old enough. Recently we covered the research on "redshirting," or the practice of starting kindergarten a little late. Our education system has this funny quirk of grouping kids by birth date - rather than, say, intellectual ability or achievement or interest.īut developmental pathways are as individual as kids themselves.Īnd so there's a perpetual back-and-forth about whether to put certain kids in school a grade behind or ahead of their actual age.