GRADE RETENTION AND PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

This study explores the causal nature of the well established associat ion between grade retention and later adolescent problem behaviors inc luding delinquency, drug use, and dropout. It uses multiple regression to examine retention effects on theoretical variables which might lin k retention to problem behavior in a sample of mostly African-American sixth and seventh graders in two urban middle schools. The study comp ares the retained (n = 197) to the promoted (n = 204) students on meas ures of the theoretical intervening variables 11 months after retentio n. The retained students scored in the more negative direction on all measures taken prior to the retention decision, but these differences were diminished 11 months after the retention decision. Regression ana lyses imply that retention reduced rebellious behavior in school and i ncreased attachment to school. These effects were small but statistica lly significant. No evidence of negative effects of grade retention wa s found on the theoretical predictors of problem behavior examined in this study.