While some educators and researchers consider retention to be "educational malpractice," others believe that simply promoting low-performing students because they are a year older does them no favor and causes them to fall further behind.

 

"Social promotion might be like moving a child to solid foods simply because he is at the 'proper age,' regardless of whether he has teethed yet," say Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters in the San Diego Union Tribune. "Try as he might, the child will not be able to chew the solid food well and will not thrive."

 

Retention is often a reaction to adult concern about a child who doesn't learn at the expected rate; while it might alleviate a parent's or teacher's anxiety, say some educators, it will probably not help the child in the long run.

 

Others believe retention gives students a chance to catch up and motivates them to try harder.

 

In areas like Live Oak in Sutter County, students are promoted to the next grade even when teachers and parents agree that the student should be held back. In most cases, when a teacher recommends retention, the response is an automatic "no" from administrators, says Lynn Jackson, a third-grade teacher at Luther Elementary School.

 

Jackson, a member of the Live Oak Teachers Association, believes retention can be beneficial - especially in the early grades. "For a child who's already struggling in second or third grade, it won't get any easier."

 

But retaining a student only works if there is parental buy-in. "I've held back some children whose parents have said years later that it was the best thing for their child and made all the difference in the world. The only time I regretted it was when a parent did not have buy-in and presented it to the child in a negative way, as being more of a failure than a chance to catch up. That led to the child not feeling good about it."

 

Her husband, Jim Jackson, a teacher at Live Oak Middle School, agrees. "Retention doesn't have to be a negative thing. It depends how you look at it. You can call it a 'bonus year' and a 'gift of time' instead of flunking."

 

The Jacksons speak from experience. Their twins were both retained in elementary school at their request - for different reasons - and both grew up to be successful. Their son is a firefighter and their daughter is presently working on her master's degree.

 

A school can retain a student without parent or guardian approval as long as there is an appeal process for parents who disagree with a teacher's decision.

 

"If the parents don't want it, I don't do it," says Sue Abrams-Puz, a third-grade teacher at Cubberley School in Long Beach. "I feel parents should have the final word."

 

Since Long Beach has a policy that students cannot be held back more than once, teachers are very judicious about recommendng it. Abrams-Puz, a member of the Teachers Association of Long Beach, does everything she can to avoid the necessity for retention.

 

"Reading is usually the problem for my English language development students. I encourage their parents to send them to summer school."

 

She's also willing to stay after school and work with them, she adds. "I have the slowest children repeat and repeat and repeat it until they - hopefully - get it.

 

"Fortunately, with class size reduction, there are only 20 students in my class."