Helping or Hurting: The Effects of Retention in the Third Grade on Student Outcomes

2023/10/11 by NaYoung Hwang, Cory Koedel
Social Sciences · #Parental Involvement in Education #School Choice and Performance #Youth Substance Use and School Attendance

paper · pdf · doi:10.3102/01623737231197639

openalex publication_date 2023/10/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

We evaluate the effects of grade retention on students’ academic, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes in Indiana. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that third-grade retention increases achievement in English Language Arts (ELA) and math immediately and substantially, and the effects persist into middle school. We find no evidence of grade retention effects on student attendance or disciplinary incidents, again into middle school. Our findings combine to show that Indiana’s third-grade retention policy improves achievement for retained students without adverse impacts along (measured) nonacademic dimensions.

Citations

• Stigma: Advances in Theory and Research

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