Experiences with grade repetition: a narrative inquiry using a resiliency lens.

• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20266373

For decades, retention has been a common practice implemented as an intervention for the at-risk or underperforming student (Alexander, Entwisle, & Dauber, 2003; Jimerson, Pletcher, & Kerr, 2005; Murray, Woodruff, & Vaughn, 2010; Penfield, 2010; Shepard & Smith, 1990; Warren & Saliba, 2012). While practitioners believe grade repetition raised students to grade level standards, often this intervention resulted in short-term academic achievement gains, followed by a fade in progress, and a negative student attitude toward school (Ou & Reynolds, 2010). Research shows that grade repetition does more academic, social, and emotional harm than good (Alexander et al., 2003; Bowman-Perrott, Herrera, & Murry, 2010; Jimerson & Ferguson, 2007; Penfield, 2010; Penna & Tallerico, 2005; Shepard & Smith, 1990). The majority of grade repetition research is approached from a quantitative view, with focus in relation to race (Balfanz, 2014; Fine & Davis, 2003), socioeconomic status (Willson & Hughes, 2009), age- and grade-level comparisons (Jimerson, 2001; Peterson & Hughes, 2011), student dropout rates (Balfanz, Bridgeland, Moore, & Hornig Fox, 2010; Bowers, 2010; Jimerson, Ferguson, Whipple, Anderson, & Dalton, 2002; Parker, 2001; Rouse, 2007; Shepard & Smith, 1990), and political policy (Martin, 2009; Murray et al, 2010; Penfield, 2010; Shepard & Smith, 1990; Tanner & Combs, 1993; Van Breda, 2011). Recent data further supported that there is a potential disconnect between research and practice, and given that practitioners continue to repeat students, it might be advantageous for researchers to evaluate students lives post-retention (Gottfried, 2012). It is through the lens of academic resilience theory that this narrative inquiry presented the long overlooked stories of eight students retained in elementary school in order to explore the following research question: How did students' experience with grade repetition in elementary school shape their own understanding of their educational, social, and emotional life stories?