What Is Grade Retention?

In today’s world, it isn't surprising to discover that a child is going to graduate, despite their lack of knowledge in the most basic of subjects such as: English, Mathematics and Science. The idea behind this is called social promotion, which often society deems to have negative connotations on today’s youth . However, the idea of social promotion actually helps the current makeup of students in the United States and will continue to bring prosperity to the future generations of the U.S..
Often the subject of social promotion is raised in conjunction with the concept of “grade retention”. The concept of grade retention is the idea of holding a student back, if they did not receive passing grades that year. Grade retention is not inherently a bad theory. The yearning to better the U.S. student population by helping build a solid foundation in basic subjects is a great proposal. However, the problem with most theories, which extends to grade retention, is that they often do not work out in real life settings. …show more content…
Costing 10,615 dollars a year per student, schools can not afford to hold back students (Vo, par. 1). According to Encyclopedia of Education, schools retain about a third of students nationwide at least once before high school(Brophy). With there being about 74 million minors currently, the cost adds up. Holding preteens back another year only helps to increase that number. The entire population should not have to pay for the mistakes of lost youths. Getting rid of grade retention will help not only rid higher taxes on mature men and women, but help the students as