Grade retention and enrollment in post-secondary education

Students retained in grade have dropout rates three to seven times higher than do their promoted peers, yet little is known about the outcomes for the most persistent of the retained students who graduate high school. The purpose of this research was to examine the post-secondary (PSE) enrollment rates of retained but persistent high school graduates. Ten thousand 1992 high school graduates in the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS) data base composed the sample. A logistic regression controlling for gender, socio-economic status (SES), race-ethnicity, and achievement yielded odds ratios indicating significantly lower odds of PSE enrollment for retained graduates compared to promoted graduates. Later grade retention generally reduced the odds of PSE enrollment. Findings suggest that retaining students may be related to negative educational outcomes not realized for many years. (C) 2003 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.