Students retained in middle school less likely to graduate

Repeating a grade is generally not associated with later suspension and chronic absenteeism, but students retained in middle school are more likely than those who were promoted to drop out, according to a new RAND Corp. study of the New York City Department of Education’s promotion policy between the 2003-04 and 2011–12 school years.Like many states and districts, the department had a policy stating that students who scored in the lowest category in math or English language arts had to attend summer school. Then, if they didn’t pass a “boundary” test at the end of the summer, they were retained unless they completed a portfolio demonstrating higher-level performance. For the study, the researchers compared those who did and didn’t pass the test.