Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Sharon Santilli
Committee Member
David Heflich
Committee Member
Lynne R. Schrum
Keywords
academic failure, administrators, benefits of retention, Central Florida, differentiated instruction, effects of retention, emotional development, general education teachers, grade retention, guidance counselors, instructional coaches, middle grades, middle school students, maturity, negative effects, positive effects, project based learning, questionnaire, research questions, retention (in grade), school readiness, self-confidence, self-esteem, special education teachers, student performance, Survey Monkey, teacher perceptions, voluntary participants
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to explore teacher and administrator perceptions of grade retention on middle school students’ performance by examining perceived benefits and drawbacks of the practice of retention to grade, and also, to examine their perceptions of major negative and positive issues that might impact students retained in middle grades and determine critical features of successful retention practices in middle school according to teachers and administrators. The research was conducted at a middle school in Central Florida through a voluntary questionnaire via Survey Monkey. Voluntary participants were school administrators, general and special education teachers, instructional coaches, and guidance counselors.
There were four research questions developed for the study: (1) According to participants, what are the benefits and drawbacks of students retained in middle grades? (2) To what extent do participants perceive a relationship between retention and academic performance? (3) How do participants describe retained students? (4) According to participants, what are the critical features of successful retention practices in middle school?
Participants perceived retention to have benefits and drawbacks for students academically, socially, and emotionally. Benefits included the opportunity for students to have another year to master content and to allow for the development of school readiness. Further benefits discussed indicated the opportunity retention allows for students to grow in maturity. Detriments included the likelihood of retention depriving students of academic challenges by forcing them to repeat curriculum. Possible damage to students’ self- confidence and self-esteem by holding students back from their same age peers was also noted as well. Participants perceived the critical features of successful retention practices in middle school to be project based learning, knowledge of students who had previously been retained, catching students before they fail, and providing differentiated instruction to meet the individual needs of students. Results indicated the need for further research on this topic.