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Is Grade Retention a Magic Reset? Why More Of The Same Fails Struggling Readers (Discover What Your Child Actually Needs Without Repeating A Grade) · The Literacy Keys - Dyslexia resources and structured literacy tips by an Orton Gillingham tutor

• 0:00
  It's the end of the school year and grade retention is being
• 0:04
  whispered in the hallways. But what if holding your child
• 0:08
  back a grade, the thing that feels like the only choice you
• 0:12
  have right now, could actually crush your child more than it
• 0:18
  helps them? I get how heavy this decision
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  feels in your chest. You're exhausted.
• 0:25
  Between the report cards, the meetings, and the worry, you're
• 0:30
  running on empty. Today, you and I are going to
• 0:35
  walk through the pros and cons of grade retention in plain
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  English so that you can make the best choice for your child and
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  for your family. I'm not going to tell you what
• 0:49
  to do. I'm going to give you the pros
• 0:53
  and cons of repeating a grade so that you can make the right
• 0:58
  decision and be at peace with that.
• 1:04
  Well, hello everyone. My name is Tracy Young OG Tudor
• 1:08
  extraordinaire, founder of the literacy keys.com and most
• 1:13
  importantly, mom of a dyslexic daughter.
• 1:17
  Welcome to my podcast where you'll discover ways to unlock
• 1:21
  your child's reading potential. I'll share tips, strategies, and
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  war stories that have happened along the way because everyone
• 1:31
  deserves to be able to read. So let's get started.
• 1:37
  Well, hello everyone and welcome back to the Literacy Keys
• 1:41
  podcast. I'm Tracy Young, Wharton
• 1:44
  Gillingham trained ultra certified practitioner, mom to
• 1:48
  an amazing dyslexic daughter, and founder of The Literacy
• 1:52
  Keys. Now, if you're tuning in for the
• 1:54
  first time, pull up a chair or keep folding the laundry.
• 1:58
  I get it, we're all busy. This is a place where we talk
• 2:03
  honestly about helping our kids who struggle with reading,
• 2:07
  writing and spelling, and even sometimes math, all while
• 2:12
  keeping our own sanity as parents because we are part of
• 2:16
  the equation. Now today we're going to be
• 2:19
  diving into a timely topic given that it's the end of the school
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  year. Grade retention.
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  Now it's also known as holding a child back and making them
• 2:30
  repeat a grade. I'm seeing many of you post
• 2:35
  about this subject because you're confused.
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  So this episode is going to delve into the pros and the cons
• 2:45
  of grade retention. So many of you are exhausted,
• 2:51
  you're worried, and most of all, you're wondering whether
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  repeating the grade is a loving thing to do.
• 3:00
  You're not alone. In the past 10 years, states
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  have passed laws that take the decision of grade retention out
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  of the hands of the school. There are standards that need to
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  be mastered before child can progress to the next grade, and
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  in many states this happens in the third grade.
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  So let's talk about grade retention.
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  Kind of like friends over coffee.
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  The pros along with the real cons, what the research says in
• 3:33
  plain English, and what you can do to move the needle for kids
• 3:39
  that struggle to read. Stick with me for the next 20
• 3:43
  minutes and by the end you'll feel equipped with doable action
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  steps you can take even this week.
• 3:53
  So let's start with the basics. That's always a good place to
• 3:56
  start, right? So grade retention simply means
• 4:00
  that a child stays in the same grade for next two year instead
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  of moving up with their peers. So if for example, they're in
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  the third grade now, then next year they don't go to the 4th
• 4:13
  grade, they repeat the 3rd grade.
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  Sometimes the school, it's based upon the school's
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  recommendation, sometimes it's based upon parents, and in some
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  states or sometimes it's based upon laws that if a child
• 4:35
  doesn't achieve a certain reading benchmark, then they are
• 4:39
  to be retained. So there's a lot that you need
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  to unpack and you need to know where your state stands on this
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  issue. So on the surface, it can feel
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  very compassionate. We're just giving them more time
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  to catch up, right? But as someone who's spent years
• 5:02
  using structured literacy to help our kids crack the reading
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  code, remember, more of the same usually doesn't work.
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  Now, I said in the beginning I wanted to provide both sides of
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  the equation, and I'm not going to tell you what to do.
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  I'm not making the decision for you.
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  So let's start with the pros of grade retention.
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  Some parents and educators point out that an extra year can give
• 5:32
  a child time to mature emotionally or even socially.
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  So, for example, if your child is one of the youngest kids in
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  the grade because of their when their birthday falls, right,
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  maybe they're struggling with focus or even organization.
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  Teachers move at a certain pace and they expect the kids to keep
• 5:59
  up. But sometimes a younger child
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  doesn't have the maturity to be able to keep up.
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  So that extra year might allow the child to be on par
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  developmentally with other kids in the class Continuing along
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  the pros. There's also the argument that
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  repeating the material that they've already seen once can
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  boost short term confidence and test scores.
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  Because in many states, that's what it ultimately comes down
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  to. And in fact, there have been a
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  couple of well known studies, like the ones following
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  Florida's retention policy, that do show that some retained kids
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  scored higher on reading tests in the year or two after they
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  were held back. The idea being that the extra
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  practice lights a fire under the schools and families to pour in
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  extra support. But in those cases, the child
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  isn't just repeating the same failing instruction.
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  They're getting more targeted help.
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  And this really is essential because more of the same gives
• 7:19
  the same results. And that's not what you want.
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  Let's face it, as parents, we want our kids to feel
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  successful. I get it if your child is coming
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  home in tears because they can't keep up, it's tempting to think
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  that starting over fresh next year will be the reset button
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  that they need. Older parents.
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  Remember when they were in school every year there were few
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  kids who didn't move on to the next grade.
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  And this didn't just happen in 3rd grade, it happened in every
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  grade. Well, that situation no longer
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  happens in most schools, but older parents don't understand
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  what changed. And I'm an older parent, so I
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  get it. So now let's talk a little bit
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  about the cons, the other side of grade retention.
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  Because for the kid who struggles with reading, the
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  research shows that something different is needed.
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  But I don't want to get into the specifics with struggling
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  readers. Let's step back for a minute and
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  talk in broad terms. One of the cons is that there
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  can be an emotional toll. Being the kid who watches their
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  friends move to the next grade right is not a great feeling.
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  Kids know when they're different.
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  They might feel that they're being left behind.
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  And of course, there are studies that show that retained children
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  can experience lower self esteem and more anxiety due to a
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  feeling of not being smart enough.
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  Now, another issue relates to retained students being more
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  likely to drop out of high school later on in their
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  educational career. But in my mind this is a
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  secondary reason because if the underlying issue of being able
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  to read were addressed, then the dropout rate would probably
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  decline. And that's the elephant in the
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  room. So now let's talk specifically
• 9:35
  about our kids, the struggling readers and the dyslexics,
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  whether they're in upper elementary, middle or high
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  school. Because this is where grade
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  retention can truly miss the mark.
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  Because dyslexia is not about being behind or not being mature
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  enough. It's a different brain wiring in
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  which it's hard to connect sounds to letters, to decode
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  words efficiently, to remember spelling patterns.
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  Even when a child is smart, an extra year in the same classroom
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  with the same approach does not work.
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  They are not going to learn to read simply by holding a book.
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  They need explicit, systematic, multi sensory instruction.
• 10:37
  Right Hint. Kind of like the Orton
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  Gillingham approach that I'm trained in, so granted I'm
• 10:43
  biased now. Repeating a grade without
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  changing how we teach reading is like making a kid run laps on a
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  sprained ankle, just hoping that it's all going to work out.
• 10:58
  Here's another analogy. It's like asking someone with
• 11:02
  poor eyesight to just try harder to see the blackboard.
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  No, they need glasses. Now please don't take me
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  literally. This is not about the glasses,
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  but it's an analogy that you don't blame the child.
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  They're trying. They're working 10 times harder
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  than most people realize. The brain needs the right type
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  of instruction. It's instruction that's broken
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  down into small steps. It's instruction that has lots
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  of review that incorporates seeing and hearing and touching
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  and feeling the patterns. It's instruction that goes from
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  the simple to the complex. And that's why I'm so passionate
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  about this issue, because I've worked with too many families
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  who were told to give it another year and little Johnny will
• 12:01
  catch up. But by the time they found me,
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  and whether middle school or high school, the gap had
• 12:08
  widened, the confidence had eroded, and we had a lot more
• 12:13
  catching up to do. Remember, early intensive
• 12:17
  support and intervention beats waiting every single time.
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  All right, so I'm off my soapbox now.
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  Going back to the grade retention problem, any academic
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  improvement can fade if the underlying reason for the
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  struggle isn't fixed. And this is essential because if
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  a child is doing the same curriculum with the same
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  teaching methods that didn't work the first time, by the way,
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  the results are going to be the same.
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  All right, so I've just thrown a lot at you, some of the pros,
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  some of the cons. Where do we net out?
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  Well, what about, I rephrase the question?
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  What about instead of waiting a whole extra year, we talk about
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  actual steps that you can start this week.
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  The first one, Have a discussion with the school schedule a calm
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  conversation with the teacher or the administrative team.
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  Instead of starting with what should we retain?
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  Ask about specific reading intervention.
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  What can be provided? How often will your child
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  receive this instruction? Is this instruction explicit?
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  How are we going to measure progress?
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  Don't wait to see the results at the end of the year.
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  All of these questions ensure that your child will not be
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  getting another year of the same approach That didn't work last
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  time. Let's talk about the second
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  thing you can do. You can get a comprehensive
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  evaluation now. If your child doesn't have a
• 14:16
  comprehensive evaluation yet, it might be time to push for one.
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  In many states, public schools must evaluate for specific
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  learning disabilities, and a good evaluation will show you
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  exactly where the breakdown is happening.
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  Is it related to phonological awareness?
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  Is it rapid naming? Is it working memory?
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  A comprehensive evaluation is going to pinpoint these issues.
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  Now, you might have to go the private route.
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  And why do I say that? Well, I want you to remember
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  schools do not provide comprehensive evaluations.
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  What schools do they assess for whether a child qualifies for an
• 15:06
  IEP? And those are two very different
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  questions. I talked about this difference
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  in another episode and I'll provide a link in the show notes
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  because knowledge is power. So let's talk about another
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  thing you can do. You can start at home with an
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  Orton Gillingham based curriculum.
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  There are programs out there that you can purchase that are
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  reasonably priced, that are designed for you, the parent,
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  not for a teacher, and you have the summer to create an
• 15:43
  intensive remediation effort. This might be just what your
• 15:48
  child needs to have it all come together.
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  Ask the school if you live in one of the states with the
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  mandatory grade retention. When is the next time that my
• 16:00
  child can take the exam again? There might be an opportunity to
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  take the exam before the beginning of the next year.
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  And so through an intensive remediation effort over their
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  summer, we are talking four to five days every single day.
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  It might be enough to get them to pass and to continue on to
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  the next grade. Now, I understand that that's a
• 16:30
  lot. And if you don't have the time,
• 16:33
  contact me at the Literacy Keys about an intensive tutoring
• 16:38
  session over the summer. Let's talk about another thing
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  you can do. So if your child qualifies for
• 16:46
  an IEP or a five O 4, you want to look at the goals that were
• 16:52
  established. Are they SMART?
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  Right. And the goals pertain to an IEP,
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  not really a five O 4. Five O 4 is about the
• 17:00
  accommodations. But are those goals explicit,
• 17:06
  right? Can they be measured?
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  Does it include a systematic phonics intervention delivered
• 17:15
  by someone who is trained? And attending a weekend workshop
• 17:20
  is not being trained. You want to ask the difficult
• 17:25
  questions, and if the school can't provide it, you might want
• 17:30
  to consider virtual tutoring. Yes, I'm talking about the kind
• 17:34
  that I provide through the literacy keys.
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  All right, last step that I want to talk to you about.
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  No matter what you decide, talk to your child, they need to know
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  that they're not broken, that with the right tools they will
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  get there. You want to celebrate every
• 17:55
  small win in order to build confidence, and that's something
• 18:01
  that no retention policy can manufacture.
• 18:05
  Let me share a quick story. One of my students was
• 18:09
  recommended for grade retention back in elementary school.
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  His parents said no and instead we started an intensive OG
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  tutoring 3 to 4 times a week and within six months he went from
• 18:23
  hating reading to devouring graphic novels.
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  Granted, they were graphic novels, but celebrate every win
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  because over time, we created a reader and remember, it's never
• 18:38
  too late. Upper elementary, middle school,
• 18:42
  even high school. The brain is plastic and
• 18:45
  structured literacy works. I've seen it over and over
• 18:50
  again. So if this episode hit home,
• 18:54
  here's what I'd like to ask from you.
• 18:57
  Subscribe on your favorite podcast at and leave a rating.
• 19:03
  The algorithm needs it to help other exhausted parents find us.
• 19:10
  Another thing you can do? Share this episode with someone
• 19:14
  who's wrestling with the same decision.
• 19:18
  And lastly, head over to the Literacy keys.com and maybe grab
• 19:22
  the free Signs of Dyslexia by Age checklist.
• 19:27
  Remember, your child is lucky to have a parent who cares enough
• 19:32
  to dig into the hard stuff. Small, consistent steps with the
• 19:38
  right method add up to a big transformation.
• 19:43
  It just takes time. So that's it for today.
• 19:49
  Thank you very much for spending this time with me.
• 19:52
  I'm cheering for you and for your kids every single episode.
• 19:57
  So I'll see you next week. Bye for now.
• 20:03
  Well, that's a wrap. Thank you for listening to the
• 20:06
  Literacy Keys podcast. Follow us on social media and
• 20:11
  most importantly, tell a friend. See you next week.