Exploring School, Classroom, and Teacher Variables in Relation to Lower-Secondary Grade Retention Rates in Europe

• In Event: In Search of Predictors of Grade Retention, an Unfair Educational Practice

Abstract

Recent literate reviews examining grade retention predictors have shown that most research so far has focused on student-level predictors, leaving a gap in understanding the influence of higher-level factors such as those at the teacher, classroom, and school level (Goos et al., 2021; Valbuena et al., 2021). This is somewhat surprising as decisions regarding grade retention are often made by teachers and school authorities. Moreover, while the practice of grade retention is prevalent globally, its usage varies considerably across countries (Valbuena et al., 2021). This study seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the variation in teacher, classroom, and school characteristics across European countries and their associations with grade retention rates in lower-secondary education. For this purpose, we used the international datasets from PISA 2018 (OECD, 2019a) and TALIS 2018 (OECD, 2019b), focusing on 35 European countries. Data on grade retention were gathered from the self-reports of the students taking part in PISA 2018. Selection of relevant TALIS/PISA 2018 predictors at the school, classroom, and teacher level was done starting from a conceptual framework adapted from Creemers and Kyriakides (2008). All variables were aggregated at the country level. The associations between the teacher, classroom, and school characteristics and the grade retention rates were investigated via correlational analyses. Our findings indicate significant variability in grade retention usage in lower-secondary education across the participating countries, ranging from 1% in Ireland to 23% in Spain. Moreover, teacher and school characteristics also varied markedly between the countries. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations between grade retention rates and factors such as school size, school urbanization, proportion of students with a different home language, dropout rates, staff shortages, and the reliance on student assessments in making grade retention decisions, all aggregated at the country level. Conversely, negative correlations were observed between grade retention rates and country-level factors such as the level of reading stimulation by teachers and the use of student assessments for comparing schools to national standards, other schools, or evaluating teacher effectiveness. In conclusion, this study reveals distinct correlations between various school, classroom, and teacher variables and grade retention rates in lower-secondary education. However, these correlations differ markedly between countries, suggesting that unique socio-cultural and educational factors influence grade retention in each context. These results provide insights into understudied higher-level factors and highlight the need for further research. A better understanding of the impact of such factors on grade retention practices is highly needed to better inform educational policymakers and practitioners.

Authors

• Janneke Pepels, Maastricht University

• Barbara Belfi, Maastricht University

• Carla Haelermans, Maastricht University

• Mieke Goos, UCLL