Should Child Repeat First Grade?

The teacher just informed us that our daughter should repeat first grade next year. This came as a shock to us. We know that she struggles a little to keep up, but she is getting passing grades. What should we do? We have three other children, and this has never happened to us before. Do you think that we should just follow the teacher's advice? -- Difficult Decision
Answer: When a teacher's suggestion that a child be retained truly surprises parents, communication has not been good between home and school. Many discussions should have been held during the year about ways to help your daughter handle school better. It is extremely important to jump on problems as soon as possible at this level. One red flag is that children are doing below-grade-level work in reading or math.
Research simply does not support retention for first-graders, even though it is common. In fact, it can be risky, with 50 percent of those who are retained doing no better the second time and 25 percent actually doing worse. Furthermore, the academic gains of being retained are likely to disappear after third grade. Of course, there are always individual students for whom retention is helpful, but it is impossible to predetermine who they will be.
The best answer for your child is swift remediation beginning now. Her specific problems must be identified by the school. Once they are identified, the proper help can be given both at school and at home. This summer she will need additional help from such things as summer school, a tutor or a learning center. Some colleges have excellent reading clinics that can provide help for little or no cost if this is part of your child's problems at school. With the correct, concentrated help, your daughter should be ready for second grade. It would also be a good idea to ask the school to test your daughter now to see if she has a learning disability.
It is important for you as well as everyone else in this situation to become better educated about retention. One good information source is the position statement on "Student Grade Retention and Social Promotion" of the National Association of School Psychologists. It's online at www.nasponline.org under "helpful information." Another informative article is the ERIC digest on "Retention and Social Promotion" at www.ericdigests.org.