NPR

Study: Holding Kids Back A Grade Doesn't Necessarily Hold Them Back

Grade retention has mixed results for school performance, a large study of students in Florida shows.
Source: Chelsea Beck

Our education system has this funny quirk of grouping kids by birth date — rather than, say, intellectual ability or achievement or interest.

But developmental pathways are as individual as kids themselves.

And so there's a perpetual back-and-forth about whether to put certain kids in school a grade behind or ahead of their actual age.

Recently we covered that it's usually better to go ahead and enroll kids as soon as they're old enough. For one thing, they will earn more money on average over a lifetime with that head start into the workforce.

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