Retaining Children:Is it the Right Decision?

A Comparison of the Academic Progress of Students with EBD and Students with LD

“…Options such as (a) increasing the kindergarten entrance age to ensure that students are ready to start kindergarten; (b) using school readiness instruments to assess whether students are ready to begin kindergarten ; (c) developing prekindergarten transitional programs to prepare children for kindergarten; and (d) using nongraded, multiage classrooms in which children progress based on achievement instead of age (Nasen, 1991) need to be utilized more extensively.…”

The effectiveness of a transitional prekindergarten program on later academic achievement

“…As early education curriculums have become more academic and inflexible, more children are found to be "unready" and placed in transitional programs. A growing number of educators argue that a less academic approach to early elementary education is needed (Gredler, 1992;Nason, 1991). Shepard and Smith (1987) question "whether the literacy-focused curriculum imposed on kindergarteners has demonstrated its superiority in a way that justifies the retentions that are a byproduct" (p. 132).…”

At What Age Should Children Enter Kindergarten? A Question for Policy Makers and Parents

“…But they suggest the importance of studying the experiences of older children that might contribute to behavioral problems. It is also possible that the relatively high levels of behavioral problems, and accompanying negative experiences and alienation among children who are over the modal age of their grade, is related to the high levels of overage students dropping out of high school (House, 1989;Nason, 1991).…”