In recent years, it seems as though more and more young students are being retained, or held back a grade, in their school. For parents who must decide whether to retain a slow learning child or send them into the next grade level, the contributing factors can be wide, varied, and difficult to sort through.

Holding a child back a grade is a choice that’s most often based on one or more of three factors: Standardized test scores, poor social skills, or serious struggles with learning “the basics.”

 When these issues begin to make parents, educators, and school officials begin to consider retention, difficult decisions must be made. The choice to hold a child back a grade should not be taken lightly, as it’s a decision that will undoubtedly go on to impact the child’s education either way. When contemplating retention for your child, it’s important to remember to treat the decision carefully, and to know that some “indicators” might not be telling you to hold your child back at all, but rather to try new methods of instruction. 

Go to http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/holding-them-back/ and take the test and see where your child stands.

Article by Allison Morris