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Madison Minchew

Professor Strehle

English Composition II

14 July 2019

Annotated Bibliography

In my essay, I want to be able to explain how retention can negatively affect students

academically. I also want to explain how retention can hurt a student socially by effecting their

mental state. I am also going to explain that as an educator, we must assess and come up with

other alternatives instead of retention. With the help of many programs, educators can provide

better tools to help promote the student instead of retention. I am going to explain the possible

alternatives such as online tutoring, after school programs, and summer school. So, I am going to

demonstrate in my research the negative effects of student retention and other alternatives to help

them succeed.

Anderson, Gabrielle E, et al. “Grade Retention: Achievement and Mental Health

Outcomes.” Center for Development and Learning, The Center for Development and

Learning, 1 Jan. 2003, www.cdl.org/articles/grade-retention-achievement-and-mental-

health-outcomes/.

The authors of this article are Gabrielle E. Anderson, Angela D. Whipple, and Shane R.

Jimerson. The source appeared in the Center for Development and Learning. The name of this

source is “Grade Retention: Achievement And Mental Health Outcomes.” This article was

written January 1, 2003. The main points of this article are to discuss how retention fails to be

affective. The outcome is negative on all levels of education and leads to behavioral and mental

health issues of children. It discusses the definition of retention, how it in ineffective in a harmful
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manor, the impact on a student’s mental health, and alternative actions. Grade retention is the

process of holding a child back a level. Research shows that negative effects of academics were

the result of retention. Students were having lower self-esteem if they were retained than those

that were promoted. This caused anxiety and depression. The reason retention fails is because of

the short-term gains academically and the long-term social and behavioral problems. This article

shared alternative actions to help a student who may be struggling. These are things such as

summer school, direct tutoring by a teacher, homework activities, and programs that are directed

after school.

The writers purpose in writing this article is to share harmful long-term outcomes of

retention, possible mental health issues of retention, and alternative actions. The audience of this

piece would be the general public because this is an internet article.

There are three writers that contributed to this article. They are Gabrielle E. Anderson,

Angela D. Whipple, and Shane R. Jimerson. Each of the writers are contributed to the National

Association for School Psychologists. The information in the article is credible because there are

several credible references and resources listed that were used. Each of these resources has to do

with grade retention research.

The information that I am going to use from this article is the explanation of what grade

retention is. I will also explain why grade retention is ineffective and harmful along with the

long-term negative outcomes retention comes with. I will share studies on how retention has

impacted mental health in students. I will also be able to share some alternative possibilities for

students that are struggling. These include things such as training programs and strategies for

behavior management.
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Arnold, Harriet. “Why Kids Should Never Repeat a Grade.” Noodle,

www.noodle.com/articles/if-a-school-wants-to-retain-your-child-heres-what-to-do.

Harriet Arnold is the author of this article. This is an internet article that appeared on

Noodle and is called “Why Kids Should Never Repeat a Grade.” This article was written July 23,

2015. The main purpose of this article has to do with studies of dropout rates because of

retention and how to help struggling students per school based solutions and their parent’s role.

The writers purpose in writing this article is to explain what research shows about school

retention. The author explains the criteria for retaining a student, how to help struggling students,

school based solutions and parent’s roles in helping the student preform. The audience for this

article is for educators, students, and parents. Since the article gives criteria of retaining students,

it shows that there are positive assessments done to decide if a student should be retained or not.

However, the alternatives to help the child succeed seem to be the better outcome.

The author of this article is Harriet Arnold. Harriet specializes in learning and has over

thirty years of experience. She has degrees in Special and Early Childhood Education. She has

taught students with learning disabilities. She has worked with parents in helping students with

complex issues. She is currently writing a book about practices for teaching children. Harriet

Arnold has adequate information to write this article because she cites several sources that have

some type of educational background.

I am going to use the information in this article to explain the criteria of retaining a

student and how it is a complicated decision. I am also going to pull information from this article

about how we can help struggling student to avoid retention. For example, the same teaching

approach is unlikely to be successful a second time around. There are other means that can help

to support a child. This article demonstrates school based solutions that can help such as tutoring
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to help students meet their grade level standards. I will also be able to explain the parent’s role in

helping the student with their academic struggles.

Caples, Bryan L. Grade Level Retention: a Handbook for Educators. Educational Leadership

Press, 2005.

The author of this source is Dr. Bryan L. Caples. The book is called “Grade Level

Retention: A Handbook for Educators.” This was printed in the United States of America by the

Educational Leadership Institute in 2005. Studies in the book explain that retention does not

help students. There have been many studies done that show the negative effects of retention.

Retention is known to harm a student, especially those at risk for failure. Alternatives were put

into place to help a student succeed rather than hold them back.

Dr. Bryan Caples purpose in writing this book is to express the negative effects of student

retention. Instead of retention he offers other suggestions to help benefit a student to be able to

stay their course and not be held back. The audience he is addressing is educators.

The writer of this book is Dr. Bryan Caples. I know that he is a credible author because

he has worked in the educational system for two decades. He has taught elementary and junior

high school along with being an elementary principal and college professor. He knows a lot

about grade retention due to his experiences in the school system. This tells me he has a lot of

experience meaning that he is and adequate author for the book he has written. Caples has good

information to write this book because he references several pages of credible sources in the

beginning of his book. The content of the source is not primarily Caples opinion because he uses

many references throughout his book. He also uses quotations from these references in his book.

The information that I am going to use in this book is going to demonstrate how to help a

student to avoid being retained. This book will help me explain other alternatives that can be
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used. The first possibility is what type of and instructional support is available to help a student

rather than holding them back. For example, there are tutoring programs and summer school

options. There are also certain types of academic curriculums that can be created to help a

student succeed in a subject they may be struggling in. All of these different options should be

able to help me in writing my paper to prove that there are other possibilities than holding a

student back.

D'Amico, David Emilio. “Alternatives Other Than Grade Retention Personal Interview.” 29 June

2019.

The person that I interviewed was David D’Amico. This was a personal interview

conducted by me to David. The interview took place in Kettering Ohio. The main purpose of this

interview was to talk to somebody about their experiences with the possibility of being retained.

David told me that he was going to be retained in school. He explained that the thought of being

held back made him sick. He remembers experiencing a lot of anxiety when the process of

possible retention was being discussed. He said that his parents had discussions with the teacher

to determine what other alternatives there might be as opposed to holding him back a year. David

was there for these discussions. It was determined that he mostly was struggling in Math and

Science. The teacher offered that David should have some type of tutoring in these specific

subjects. David was tutored three days a week after school by his teacher. David remembers that

he was very frustrated when he had to be tutored. However, in the long run he was happy

because the extra help allowed him to catch up in the subjects. This resulted in him being able to

stay with his class and not be held back.

The purpose of this personal interview was to understand the effects that someone

personally experienced. Because it was a personal interview, I was the audience for this source. I
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believe that this source had good content because it was David’s own personal experience. He

shared his emotions of anxiety because of the possibility of him being retained. At first, he was

upset about what he had to do to achieve the goal, but the outcome was worth it.

The writer of this personal interview is me. I know this is a credible source because it is

someone’s own experience. I know there is adequate information in this personal interview

because it is factual. It is reliable because it is David’s personal experience and he shared his

own feelings of this process. He shared both the negative and positive aspects.

Meador, Derrick. “6 Burning Questions About a Student Repeating a Grade.” ThoughtCo,

ThoughtCo, 9 Apr. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/essential-questions-concerning-grade-

retention-3194685.

The author of this article is Derrick Meador. There are multiple titles in this article, but it

can be found by using the following title: “6 Burning Questions About Students Repeating a

Grade.” This article appeared on the internet through the ThoughtCo and was last updated on

April 9th, 2018. This company is known for having articles in reference to schools. The main

point of this article is to explain reasons to retain a student, possible side effects of retention

(negative effects), and alternatives of grade retention. The article states that a child can be

retained due to their developmental level. Some kids may need more time to develop

academically than others. This is why grade retention may be necessary for certain students. A

positive side effects of this are that a student can catch up on what they have missed. However,

there are negative effects of retention. Dropout rates are high. Socialization issues lead to low

self-esteem. This causes students to become easily depressed. As time goes on they will most

likely develop behavioral issues.

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Meador’s purpose in writing this article is to share the benefits of student retention the

negative effects of student retention, and alternatives to grade retention. Meador explains that

retaining a student can help them develop mentally and will allow them to catch up on any

academics they may have fallen behind on. Students may be retained because they do not have

motivation to do their work. The author also explains the negative effects of student retention.

One of the most alarming effects is that a student that has been retained will eventually drop out

of school. Socialization becomes an issue because students are separated from their classmates

and friends. This can cause the student to have long term effects with self-esteem issues and

depression. Behavioral issues will continue as the child gets older. However, there are many

alternatives to grade retention. There are options on how to help student improve and meet

certain objectives to succeed.

The writer of this article is Derrick Meador. He is a credible author because he has

contributed articles to the ThoughtCo about administration in schools and teaching. He has

experience in education for over two decades. He is a super intendant at Jennings public schools

in Oklahoma. His work is found on websites that target educators. One website is

TeachersTools.com. He is able to teach elementary education science for middle school aged

students and physical education along with that.

I will be able to use the information in this article to effectively demonstrate that the

reasons to retain child are not worthwhile. This article will help me to share the negative effects

of school retention such as the social impact on students and the mental effects as well. Then, I

am going to discuss the opportunities suggested in this article to benefit students such as summer

school and other programs.

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Square, Zócalo Public. YouTube, YouTube, 5 Dec. 2013,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQKBQ9_nwYM.

This video was published by Zócalo Public Square on December 5, 2013. It is titled

“Does Holding Kids Back Help Them?” The main point of this video is to discuss the pros and

cons of childhood retention. The first speaker determines that research shows retention is not

helpful. The second speaker suggested that retention was beneficial because it gives the educator

a chance to address the issues the student may be having. The third speaker talks about one issue

academically versus several. She suggested assessments could be conducted to determine where

the most help is needed. This would allow a focal point on the areas the students are struggling in

rather than holding them accountable to repeat an entire grade.

The purpose of this video is to discuss if retention or other alternatives are best when

students are struggling. The audience this video is projected towards is the general public

because it is accessible to anyone. This video was sponsored and filmed at Arizona State

University. This gives the presence of a credible source.

This video was performed by Frank Serafini (Speaker #1). Frank is a literacy education

scholar from ASU. Tim Valencia (Speaker #2), who is an educational program manager. The last

speaker is Daniela Robles. She is and elementary school instructional coach. All three speakers

are talking to Catheryn Creno. She is an Arizona Republic education reporter. Each of the

speakers in the video seem to be credible because they all have backgrounds consistent in the

field of education. This video contains adequate information because the speakers are reliable

sources because of their background in education.

I can use information from this video to help me determine that retention of students is

not a worthwhile cause. Two out of the three speakers in the video suggested retention isn’t
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necessary. The one speaker that was crediting the positives of retention even said something

negative about retention. He said he could understand not wanting to hold a student back because

of a possible negative outcome.

Strauss, Valerie. “Does Holding Kids Back a Year Help Them Academically? No. But Schools

Still Do It.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 7 Sept. 2014,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/07/does-holding-kids-back-a-

year-help-them-academically-no-but-schools-still-do-

it/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.dc22d719baea.

The reporter of this article is Valerie Strauss. The article appeared in the Washington

Post. The title is “Does holding kids back a year help them academically? No. But schools still

do it.” This article was written in September of 2014. The main point of this newspaper article

was to share with readers that when students are retained, there was a correlation for them to

have problems with their behavior. The article stated that retention does not help students

academically. It also gave other suggestions and approaches of what to do so a student does not

have to be held back in school.

The writer’s purpose of this article is to allow the reader to understand why retention has

possible negative effects and not the best outcomes overall. The audience that this article is

projected towards is the general public because this is a newspaper article. It shares information

for several different states as well by the means of academic research and the negative effects of

grade retention. This article allows the reader to realize that there are not only issues in one area,

but several different states because it explains what retention has done in each of these areas. For

example, the article hits on the negative effects of retention in states such as South Carolina,

Oklahoma, and Florida.

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The author of this article is Valerie Strauss. She is an educational writer. She has a blog

and posts about students on there and discusses many different topics about education. Her

credentials are that she has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami along with a

master’s degree from Northwestern University. Her article is published by The Washington Post.

Most of information in this article is credible because it consists of information from reliable

sources. Most of them come from an education background. For example, one is a professor and

some are scholars. The content in this article seems to be balanced. The content is not primarily

opinion. This is because it contains information such as scholars and professors doing studies on

the same information to see if retention helps students. The creator of this article provided

references and sources by making the scholar’s and professor’s names a link in the article to

click on to see more information about the topic or about the person.

I am going to use the information in this article to prove how retaining a student can

negatively affect their behavior. I will be able to hit on how retention can mentally affect a

student’s health. This not only affects them during the years they are retained, but can lead to a

life time of depression. This article definitely hits on the negative effects of retention because of

the mental impact it can have on a student throughout the rest of their school career and later in

life. I am also going to be able to discuss how the article suggests different approaches in helping

students succeed rather than retaining them.