Redshirting: Article II

This is from an Iowa Department of Education website: Tracking and Retention

Although research does not support grade retention, many educators and parents do. Sometimes it is true that teachers do see children who have been retained, placed in extra year classes, or held out of school for a year making progress. It is also true that they have no opportunity to see how well the children might have progressed had they been promoted or moved along with their age-mates. The vast majority of control-group studies that are structured to measure this comparison come down clearly on the side of promotion. Students recommended for retention but advanced to the next level end up doing as well as or better academically than comparable non-promoted peers. Children who have been retained demonstrate more social regression, display more behavior problems, suffer stress in connection with being retained, and more frequently leave high school without graduating.

Policies sanctioning retention should be highly suspect given the lack of demonstrated effectiveness and prevalent bias against certain groups of children (e.g., young-in-grade males, children of color, English language learners).