Efficacy of Grade Retention in Macao
Evidence from pisa 2009
In: International Journal of Chinese EducationSearch for other papers by Yisu Zhou in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Yi-Lee Wong in
Current site
Google Scholar
Grade retention is widely used in Macao at the elementary and secondary levels. While many teachers and students believe retention gives low-performing students the opportunity to catch up, there is little empirical evidence to support such a claim. Using Programme in International Student Assessment 2009 (pisa, 2009) data, we examine the effect of grade retention on students’ learning time, learning strategy, metacognition, and academic achievement. We also analyze the influence of school policies to determine the net effect of retention. Our findings suggest that, contrary to conventional thinking, grade retention has a highly negative effect on the above factors. Students who repeated a grade did not benefit from this second chance, but rather were substantially held back in their learning trajectory. We suggest that schools in Macao shift their focus to designing programs that will help students with greater needs, rather than focusing exclusively on identifying such students.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Alexander Karl L. , Entwisle Doris R. & Kabbani Nader “Grade Retention, Social Promotion, and ‘Third Way’ Alternatives.” 1999 Paper presented at the National Invitational Conference for Early Childhood Learning: Programs for a New Age Alexandria, Virginia
-
Ammermueller Andreas & Pischke Jörn-Steffen “Peer Effects in European Primary Schools: Evidence from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study.” Journal of Labor Economics 2009 27 no. 3 315 338
-
Carlson Elizabeth A. , Sroufe L. Alan , Collins W. Andrew , Jimerson Shane R. , Weinfield Nancy , Hennighausen Katherine & Meyer Stephanie E. “Early Environmental Support and Elementary School Adjustment as Predictors of School Adjustment in Middle Adolescence.” Journal of Adolescent Research 1999 14 no. 1 72 94 doi: 10.1177/0743558499141005
-
Chan Chi Fong Facts and Statistics about Basic Education in Macao, 1999-2009 2010 Chinese Educators Association of Macao (in Chinese)
-
Education and Youth Affairs Bureau “General Survey of Education in Figures, 2012/2013” May 11, 2017 (in Chinese) http://portal.dsej.gov.mo/webdsejspace/internet/Inter_main_page.jsp?id=41728
-
Goodlad John & Anderson Robert H. The Nongraded Elementary School 1963 New York Harcourt, Brace and World
-
Greene Jay & Winters Marcus A. “Revisiting Grade Retention: An Evaluation of Florida’s Test-Based Promotion Policy.” Education Finance and Policy 2007 September 2 no. 4 319 340 doi: 10.1162/edfp.2007.2.4.319
-
Greene Jay & Winters Marcus A. “The Effects of Exemptions to Florida’s Test-Based Promotion Policy: Who is Retained? Who Benefits Academically?” Economics of Education Review 2009 28 no.1 135 142 doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2008.02.002
-
Hanushek Eric A. & Woessmann Ludger “Sample Selectivity and the Validity of International Student Achievement Tests in Economic Research.” Economics Letters 2011 February 110 no. 2 79 82 doi: 10.1016/j.econlet.2010.10.022
-
Hao Zhidong Macau: History and Society 2011 Hong Kong University Press
-
Holmes C. Thomas Shepard L. A. & Smith M. L. “Grade-Level Retention Effects: A Meta-Analysis of Research Studies.” Flunking Grades: Research and Policies on Retention (chap. 2) 1989 London The Falmer Press
-
Hong Guanglei & Raudenbush Stephen W. “Effects of Kindergarten Retention Policy on Children’s Cognitive Growth in Reading and Mathematics.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 2005 January 27 no. 3 205 224 doi: 10.3102/01623737027003205
-
Jimerson Shane R “On the Failure of Failure: Examining the Association between Early Grade Retention and Education and Employment Outcomes during Late Adolescence.” Journal of School Psychology 1999 37 no. 3 243 272 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4405(99)00005-9
-
Jimerson Shane R “Meta-Analysis of Grade Retention Research: Implications for Practice in the 21st Century.” School Psychology Review 2001a 30 no. 3 420 437
-
Jimerson Shane R “A Synthesis of Grade Retention Research: Looking Backward and Moving Forward.” The California School Psychologist 2001b 6 no.1 47 59 doi: 10.1007/BF03340883
-
Jimerson Shane R. , Anderson Gabrielle E. & Whipple Angela D. “Winning the Battle and Losing the War: Examining the Relation between Grade Retention and Dropping out of High School.” Psychology in the Schools 2002 July 39 no. 4 441 457 doi: 10.1002/pits.10046
-
Jimerson Shane R. , Carlson Elizabeth , Rotert Monique , Egeland Byron & Sroufe L. Alan “A Prospective, Longitudinal Study of the Correlates and Consequences of Early Grade Retention.” Journal of School Psychology 1997 35 no. 1 3 25 doi: 10.1016/S0022-4405(96)00033-7
-
Jimerson Shane R. & Ferguson Phillip “A Longitudinal Study of Grade Retention: Academic and Behavioral Outcomes of Retained Students through Adolescence.” School Psychology Quarterly 2007 22 no. 3 314 339 doi: 10.1037/1045-3830.22.3.314
-
Jimerson Shane R. & Kaufman Amber M. “Reading, Writing, and Retention: A Primer on Grade Retention Research.” Reading Teacher 2003 56 no. 7 622 635
-
Jimerson Shane R. , Pletcher Sarah M. W. , Graydon Kelly , Schnurr Britton L. , Nickerson Amanda B. & Kundert Deborah K. “Beyond Grade Retention and Social Promotion: Promoting the Social and Academic Competence of Students.” Psychology in Schools 2006 43 no. 1 85 97 doi: 10.1002/pits.20132
-
McCoy Ann R. & Reynolds Arthur J. “Grade Retention and School Performance: An Extended Investigation.” Journal of School Psychology 1999 37 273 298
-
oecd PISA Data Analysis Manual: SPSS 2009 2nd ed. OECD Publishing
-
oecd PISA 2009 Results: What Makes a School Successful? Resources, Policies, and Practices 2010 OECD Publishing (Vol. 4; Tech. Rep.) doi: 10.1787/9789264091559-en
-
oecd PISA 2009 Technical Report 2012 OECD Publishing (Tech. Rep.) doi: 10.1787/9789264167872-en
-
Ohinata Asako & van Ours Jan C. How Immigrant Children Affect the Academic Achievement of Native Dutch Children 2011 June 8, 2017 Bonn, Germany (No. 6212) from https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/58841/1/697276619.pdf
-
Pong Suet-Ling “Grade Level and Achievement of Immigrants’ Children: Academic Redshirting in Hong Kong.” Educational Research and Evaluation 2009 15 no. 4 405 425 doi: 10.1080/13803610903087078
-
Ream Robert K. & Rumberger Russell W. “Student Engagement, Peer Social Capital, and School Dropout among Mexican American and non-Latino White Students.” Sociology of Education 2008 81 no. 2 109 139 doi: 10.1177/003804070808100201
-
Roderick Melissa “Grade Retention and School Dropout: Investigating the Association.” American Educational Research Journal 1994 January 31 no. 4 729 759 doi: 10.3102/00028312031004729
-
Roderick Melissa & Nagaoka Jenny “Retention under Chicago’s High-Stakes Testing Program: Helpful, Harmful, or Harmless?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 2005 27 no. 4 309 340 doi: 10.3102/01623737027004309
-
Rutkowski Leslie , Gonzalez Eugenio , Joncas Marc & von Davier Matthias “International Large-Scale Assessment Data: Issues in Secondary Analysis and Reporting.” Educational Researcher 2010 March 39 no. 2 142 151 doi: 10.3102/0013189X10363170
-
Silberglitt Benjamin, James J. Appleton, Matthew K. Burns, and Shane R. Jimerson “Examining the Effects of Grade Retention on Student Reading Performance: A Longitudinal Study.” Journal of School Psychology 2006 September 44 no. 4 255 270 doi: 10.1016/j.jsp.2006.05.004
-
Smith Mary Lee & Shepard Lorrie A. “Kindergarten Readiness and Retention: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices.” American Educational Research Journal 1988 25 no. 3 307 333 doi: 10.3102/00028312025003307
-
Stearns Elizabeth , Moller Stephanie , Blau Judith & Potochnick Stephanie “Staying back and Dropping out: The Relationship between Grade Retention and School Dropout.” Sociology of Education 2007 80 no. 3 210 240 doi: 10.1177/003804070708000302
-
von Davier Matthias, Eugenio Gonzalez, and Robert J. Mislevy von Davier Matthias & Hastedt Dirk “What are Plausible Values and Why are they Useful?” Issues and Methodologies in Large-scale Assessments 2009 Vol. 2 Princeton, NJ IEA-ETS Research Institute 9 36
-
Wong Yi-Lee “Why are In-Grade Retention Rates So High in Macao?” Current Issues in Education 2013 June 7, 2017 16 no. 3 http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1240
-
Wong Yi-Lee & Zhou Yisu “The Operation of Grade Retention and Education Inequality: Who Gets Retained in Macao and Why.” Asian Pacific Journal of Education 37 2 150 162
-
World Bank Macao SAR, China 2013 June 7, 2017 from http://data.worldbank.org/country/macao-sar-china
-
3
Yi-Lee Wong, “Why are In-Grade Retention Rates So High in Macao?” Current Issues in Education 16, no. 3 (2013).
-
4
Ibid.; Yi-Lee Wong and Yisu Zhou, “The Operation of Grade Retention and Education Inequality: Who Gets Retained in Macao and Why,” Asian Pacific Journal of Education, 37(2):150-162.
-
6
John Goodlad and Robert H. Anderson, The Nongraded Elementary School (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1963).
-
7
Jay Greene and Marcus Winters, “Revisiting Grade Retention: An Evaluation of Florida’s Test-Based Promotion Policy,” Education Finance and Policy 2, no. 4 (September 2007): 319-340; Jay Greene and Marcus A. Winters, “The Effects of Exemptions to Florida’s Test-Based Promotion Policy: Who is Retained? Who Benefits Academically?” Economics of Education Review 28, no. 1 (2009): 135-142.
-
8
Elizabeth Carlson, et al., “Early Environmental Support and Elementary School Adjustment as Predictors of School Adjustment in Middle Adolescence,” Journal of Adolescent Research 14, no. 1 (1999): 72-94.
-
9
Shane Jimerson and Phillip Ferguson, “A Longitudinal Study of Grade Retention: Academic and Behavioral Outcomes of Retained Students through Adolescence,” School Psychology Quarterly 22, no. 3 (2007): 314-339; Robert K. Ream and Russell W. Rumberger, “Student Engagement, Peer Social Capital, and School Dropout among Mexican American and non-Latino White Students,” Sociology of Education 81, no. 2 (2008):109-139; Elizabeth Stearns, et al., “Staying back and Dropping out: The Relationship between Grade Retention and School Dropout,” Sociology of Education 80, no. 3 (2007): 210-240.
-
10
Shane Jimerson, et al., “A Prospective, Longitudinal Study of the Correlates and Consequences of Early Grade Retention,” Journal of School Psychology 35, no.1 (1997): 3-25; Benjamin Silberglitt, et al., “Examining the Effects of Grade Retention on Student Reading Performance: A Longitudinal Study,” Journal of School Psychology 44, no. 4 (September 2006): 255-270.
-
11
Shane Jimerson, “On the Failure of Failure: Examining the Association between Early Grade Retention and Education and Employment Outcomes during Late Adolescence,” Journal of School Psychology 37, no. 3 (1999): 243-272; Shane Jimerson, et al., “Beyond Grade Retention and Social Promotion: Promoting the Social and Academic Competence of Students,” Psychology in Schools 43, no. 1 (2006): 85-97; Melissa Roderick, “Grade Retention and School Dropout: Investigating the Association,” American Educational Research Journal 31, no. 4 (January 1994): 729-759.
-
12
Thomas C. Holmes, “Grade-Level Retention Effects: A Meta-Analysis of Research Studies.” In Flunking Grades: Research and Policies on Retention, ed. L. A. Shepard and M. L. Smith (The Falmer Press, 1989); Shane Jimerson, “A Synthesis of Grade Retention Research: Looking Backward and Moving Forward,” The California School Psychologist 6, no. 1 (2001b): 47-59; Shane Jimerson and Amber M. Kaufman, “Reading, Writing, and Retention: A Primer on Grade Retention Research,” Reading Teacher 56, no. 7 (2003): 622-635.
-
14
Benjamin Silberglitt et al., “Examining the Effects,” Journal of School Psychology 44, no. 4 (2006) 255-270; Mary Lee Smith and Lorrie A. Shepard, “Kindergarten Readiness and Retention: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices,” American Educational Research Journal 25, no. 3 (1988): 307-333.
-
15
Jay Greene and Marcus A. Winters, “The Effects of Exemptions to Florida’s Test-Based Promotion Policy: Who is Retained? Who Benefits Academically?” Economics of Education Review 28, no. 1 (2009): 135-142; Melissa Roderick and Jenny Nagaoka, “Retention under Chicago’s High-Stakes Testing Program: Helpful, Harmful, or Harmless?” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 27, no. 4 (2005): 309-340.
-
16
Shane Jimerson, “Meta-Analysis of Grade Retention Research: Implications for Practice in the 21st Century,” School Psychology Review 30, no. 3 (2001a): 420-437; Shane Jimerson, “A Synthesis of Grade Retention Research: Looking Backward and Moving Forward,” The California School Psychologist 6, no. 1 (2001b): 47-59.
-
19
Yi-Lee Wong, “Why are In-Grade Retention Rates so High in Macao?” Current Issues in Education 16, no. 3 (2013), accessed June 7, 2017, http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1240.
-
26
Leslie Rutkowski, et al., “International Large-Scale Assessment Data: Issues in Secondary Analysis and Reporting,” Educational Researcher 39, no. 2 (March 2010): 142-151; Matthias von Davier, Eugenio Gonzalez and Robert J. Mislevy, “What are Plausible Values and Why are they Useful?” in Issues and Methodologies in Large-scale Assessments (Vol. 2), ed. by Matthias von Davier and Dirk Hastedt (Princeton, nj: iea-ets Research Institute, 2009), 9-36.
-
28
Yi-Lee Wong and Yisu Zhou, “The Operation of Grade Retention and Education Inequality: Who Gets Retained in Macao and Why,” Asian Pacific Journal of Education, 37(2):150-162.
-
29
Guanglei Hong and Stephen W. Raudenbush, “Effects of Kindergarten Retention Policy on Children’s Cognitive Growth in Reading and Mathematics,” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 27, no. 3 (January 2005): 205-224.
-
30
Ibid., p. 152.
-
33
Suet-Ling Pong, “Grade Level and Achievement of Immigrants’ Children: Academic Redshirting in Hong Kong,” Educational Research and Evaluation 15, no. 4 (2009): 405-425.
-
36
Yi-Lee Wong, “Why are In-Grade Retention Rates so High in Macao?” Current Issues in Education 16, no. 3 (2013), accessed June 7, 2017, http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1240; Yi-Lee Wong, and Yisu Zhou. “The Operation of Grade Retention and Education Inequality: Who Gets Retained in Macao and Why.” Asian Pacific Journal of Education, 37(2):150-162.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 309 | 26 | 2 |
| Full Text Views | 197 | 10 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 61 | 27 | 0 |
Efficacy of Grade Retention in Macao
Evidence from pisa 2009
In: International Journal of Chinese EducationSearch for other papers by Yisu Zhou in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Yi-Lee Wong in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Grade retention is widely used in Macao at the elementary and secondary levels. While many teachers and students believe retention gives low-performing students the opportunity to catch up, there is little empirical evidence to support such a claim. Using Programme in International Student Assessment 2009 (pisa, 2009) data, we examine the effect of grade retention on students’ learning time, learning strategy, metacognition, and academic achievement. We also analyze the influence of school policies to determine the net effect of retention. Our findings suggest that, contrary to conventional thinking, grade retention has a highly negative effect on the above factors. Students who repeated a grade did not benefit from this second chance, but rather were substantially held back in their learning trajectory. We suggest that schools in Macao shift their focus to designing programs that will help students with greater needs, rather than focusing exclusively on identifying such students.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 309 | 26 | 2 |
| Full Text Views | 197 | 10 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 61 | 27 | 0 |