Grade repetition is regulated by law in most countries, with slight legislative variations between them. In essence, it is about students with low academic performance remaining one more year in the course they have not passed. The measure seems reasonable and aseptic: if the student does not reach the required level, she will have to repeat it. Pure logic.
However, if analyzed in some detail, many nuances to this logic appear. First of all: is the measure effective? Does repeating a grade improve the academic performance of repeaters? And on a personal level, does it help the growth and maturation of the students? Let’s see what the available data says.
School repetition around the world
School repetition affects approximately one in ten students in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). However, repetition rates vary greatly between countries.
In the majority, repetition is below 10%, even in many the measure is extraordinary, affecting less than 5% of the students. On the other hand, in other countries the repetition rate far exceeds the international average. Spain is within this last group.
Based on the data of the International Program for Student Assessment (PISA–2018) it is estimated that almost . The same estimates indicate that the three Latin American partners of the OECD also exceed the international average: Mexico: 15.0%; Chile: 23.2%; and Colombia: 40.2%.
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The ‘culture of repetition’
Are these decisions based on objective and rigorous criteria or is it rather a sociocultural practice?
He compared the laws on school repetition in the European Union, finding that the legal regulations are very similar. Therefore, differences in repetition rates between countries cannot be explained by legislative variability.
He concludes that these differences were due to what he called the culture of repetition. In countries with higher repetition rates, the belief prevails that repeating is fair and beneficial for students. Repetition is much more widespread in Mediterranean and Central European countries than in Nordic and Anglo-Saxon countries.
The influence of the educational system
It could be argued that countries with fewer repeaters have a better educational system and their students are more competent, which is why they repeat less.
However, the data indicate that if a country has many repeaters, this does not necessarily mean that the level of proficiency of its school population is lower.
Thus, the recent report by Save the Children () pointed out that, although Spain shows a level of academic competence similar to that of its surrounding countries, Spanish students are more likely to repeat than those in most European countries.
Good intentions
Therefore, if despite having similar school skills, in some countries repetition rates skyrocket, as is the case in Spain, there is something that is favoring it beyond objective academic criteria.
And that something else would be the predominance of a culture of repetition, which would be well regarded socially. The cultures most prone to repetition are not evil, nor do they seek to make students who do not reach a certain educational level suffer or take revenge. They do it with all good intentions, in order to improve the students’ performance and send them the message that not making an effort has consequences. But does repetition achieve these noble objectives?
What impact does school repetition have?
Societies in which school repetition is more widespread share the belief that repetition improves academic performance and motivation. There is a lot of research on those two questions, focused on repetition.
Cognitive effects refer to the improvements that repetition would produce in academic results. Although with nuances, the conclusions of this line of research indicate that repetition is less effective than teachers and society in general usually believe.
They even point out that repeating has negative effects on academic performance. The results are not so drastic, finding that repeating does not show any significant educational effect, neither positive nor negative.
Purpose of amendment
Many teachers and families see repetition as a wake-up call for students to make amends and assume the consequences of their lack of school involvement.
They consider that the measure encourages students, improves their self-confidence and academic motivation, helps establish new personal relationships and, ultimately, increases the student’s well-being at school.
These would be the ones called.
Self-esteem and socioeconomic level
Do the data support these noble intentions? Educational research that confirms the above assumptions. Our study in Spain compared two groups, one of repeaters with another of non-repeaters, finding that students who had repeated did not improve in non-cognitive variables such as self-concept and motivation.
A key transversal variable, which conditions educational functioning in general, and repetition is no exception, is . Various studies show that students with low socioeconomic status are more likely than those from an affluent background.
Are there realistic alternatives?
In view of the data and reasoning presented, everything seems to indicate that repeating a year is not a very effective measure, neither to improve educational aspects nor those related to the maturation and personal development of students.
Furthermore, from a pragmatic point of view, it is a very costly measure for the public coffers, and it has, as if that were not enough, a clear equitable bias, affecting students from low socioeconomic status much more.
Without trying to demonize grade repetition, since those who propose its massive use do so with the best intentions, can something better be done to help students?
They are trying to find reasonable alternatives to repetition by focusing on:
- Specific teacher training plans.
- Effective diversity management practices in the classroom.
- Strengthen the resources of the centers.
- Early detection of students’ educational difficulties.
- Intervention in moments of transition, especially in the change from primary to compulsory secondary education.
- Objective evaluation of skills and knowledge.
- Individualized academic and psychopedagogical supports.
- Conditional promotions.
- Reducing school segregation.
- Support for families.
All these measures, and others that can be added, will help reduce the repetition rate in exceptional cases, with the consequent benefits for students, first of all, but also for schools, the educational system and, by extension, for society in general.
Article published in and transferred for republishing in .
Authors:
- Professor of the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Oviedo
- Predoctoral researcher, University of Oviedo
- Associate Professor of Statistics and Operations Research, Complutense University of Madrid
- Professor of Psychometrics and Rector, Nebrija University