PARENTS LABOR-FORCE ATTACHMENT AND GRADE RETENTION AMONG URBAN BLACK-CHILDREN

This study focused on the impact of weak labor force attachment on gra de retention by Grade 9 among urban Black children using data from a 2 0-year longitudinal study in Baltimore. Unlike more traditional measur es, such as high school completion, grade retention is a dynamic indic ator of both primary and secondary education. A youngster must be prom oted at the end of each grade to graduate from high school. Higher ris ks of grade retention are associated with welfare dependence only when income is obtained from welfare alone, when receipt of welfare is per sistent, and when a child is in the fourth or higher grade. preschool verbal ability is predictive of grade retention only in Grades 1-3, bu t not in Grades 4-9.