Do certain groups of children profit from early retention? A follow-up study of kindergartners with attention problems

✍ Scribed by Panayota Y. Mantzicopoulos

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 63 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-3085
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1520-6807(199704)34:2<115::aid-pits5>3.0.co;2-p

✦ Synopsis

This study re-examines the issue of whether or not early retention results in positive long-term academic and behavioral outcomes for a subgroup of kindergarten children with attention problems. Participants in this investigation were 40 children (25 retained and 15 promoted) with high inattention, drawn from a sample of 62 children (32 retained and 30 promoted) who had taken part in an earlier study on the effects of early retention. The results of this investigation do not support the notion that pre-elementary school retention is a beneficial educational intervention for children with academic and/or behavior difficulties. At the end of second grade there were no consistent academic benefits for retained children with attention problems. Further, the high inattention scores, that were accompanied by increased problems in other behavior domains, did not improve as a result of repeating the kindergarten curriculum.