To repeat, or not to repeat — that’s the question for next school year

Proponents of grade retention policies — who fall on both sides of the political aisle — argue holding kids back is not the primary goal, improving literacy is. The threat of retention is there to put pressure on school districts to focus on early literacy, a building block that researchers agree is necessary for success throughout K-12 education. There is room in many of these school systems for parents to request “good cause” exemptions and fight for their child to move forward. But often these retention policies take effect before parents are even aware of their existence, let alone given the chance to petition them. Last year, at the height of the pandemic, some states — including Mississippi, one of the early pioneers of the third-grade reading law — canceled standardized tests and suspended retention policies. But this year, with standardized testing in many states set to move forward under President Joe Biden’s administration, some experts fear a large swath of the nation’s elementary school students could soon be targeted to repeat a grade. The fallout could last a generation.