Passed Along: Black Women Reflect on the Long-Term Effects of Social Promotion and Retention in Schools

• In Event: Grown Folks’ Talk: Black Men and Women on Education, Incarceration, and Testing

Abstract

Objectives and Project Perspectives

There is much debate around the issue of social promotion and retention in schools. Districts like Chicago and Florida (Greene & Marcus, 2006; Hennick, 2008; Stone & Engel, 2007) have implemented stringent anti-social promotion programs in schools. Yet, retention of students significantly increases students’ risk of dropping out by 40% (Hennick, 2008; Jimerson, et al., 2006) and retained students are disproportionately Black (24%) compared to their White counterparts (8%) (Jimerson et al., 2006).

How does social promotion and retention affect the later adult lives of these students? The study reported in this paper addresses this question while grounded in the perspective that biography and personal narrative are central to the process of understanding students’ experiences. Goodson and Sikes (2001) argue that life histories are important because they provide a holistic view of marginalized teachers and students. Building upon this foundation, we apply notions of biography to the experiences of students. Through this lens, we investigate the lives to two adult Black women.

Methods and Data Sources

The stories of Lauren (50-years old) and Shantel (38-years old), two Black woman, are part of a larger study intended to draw from the collective knowledge, insights, and life experiences of marginalized people. During the first stage of the study, we intended to interview adults who did not complete school. While recruiting for interviews, these two women approached us and asked to be interviewed. Even though both women had completed high school and thus did not fit the desired population, they urged us to hear their stories because they were products of social promotion and retention. This paper presents that data from their life history interviews. Each woman participated in one, 2-hour life history interview (Goodman & Sikes, 2001). Interviews were transcribed by the author, and member checked were completed.

Results and Significance

Results suggest that the negative outcomes of social promotion continue to affect participants’ lives decades after they graduated from compulsory schooling. Shantel and Lauren were both retained in kindergarten but experienced social promotion through the duration of their schooling. Both women successfully graduated from high school but with very low literacy abilities. Shantel explained, “My [reading] grade level is a 2. Second grade level. I’m not ashamed to say that now. I used to. I used to go like, people going to make fun of me, but no more. I have a reading and spelling problem.” Similarly, Lauren expressed, “They [teachers] didn’t do nothing about it. They just passed me. And for me to be so young, I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand, how you going to pass somebody that never had nothing higher than an F?” Additionally, both women had learning disabilities that were evident to teachers in kindergarten but were not addressed until very late in their schooling careers. Though troubling, these results deepen our understanding of the effects of social promotion and generate this understanding from the subjective lived experiences of Black women.

Author

• Lynnette K. Mawhinney, The College of New Jersey