To Repeat Kindergarten or Not?

My son turned 5 in December. Recently, the teacher told me he should repeat kindergarten because of immaturity. He has been tested for learning disabilities and apparently does not have any. He knows the alphabet but not all the letter sounds, and he has some difficulty with math. Is retention the right step to take? -- Yes or No
Answer: Kindergarten teachers typically advise retaining students so they can gain cognitive and social skills for first grade. At the present time, from 10 percent to 30 percent of all kindergartners are retained or are placed in transitional classes.
Most research seems to support not retaining your child. These studies find no lasting advantage to retention and see it as potentially negative socially. At the end of first grade, students who have repeated kindergarten typically have lower reading and math scores than those who haven't.
We, of course, are speaking about "most" children. Individual students obviously may benefit. A great number of parents who retained their children in kindergarten write glowingly to us about how well it worked out for their children.
Because early childhood is a period of such rapid development, the child who appears immature today may be a far more mature child in just a few months. And the same goes for a child's ability to handle academic work. By the time school starts again next year, your child may have made great strides in his overall development.