The primary program is not the place where learning begins. It is a continuation and extension of real learning which has been occurring for children every waking moment of their lives. In the primary program, the opportunities are so rich and varied that all children find experiences which challenge their current level of development. The program only serves to organize and focus what children are currently able to do. Those who work with young children must insist that the program help all children reach their potential. When the goal is continuous progress for individual learners, the need for practices such as retention, tracking, and extra year programs disappears.

Retention, tracking, and extra year or transition programs are often used out of genuine concern for children who are perceived as needing more time to be “ready.” Parents and educators mistakenly believe that placing children in ability groups or in a classroom with younger peers will improve their chances for success. These concerns are grounded on a definition of readiness that is not consistent with either the current knowledge about children’s growth and development or with the goals and philosophy of the primary program.

Research findings on retention indicate that its effects are cause for great concern. Teachers, parents, and peers are likely to view a retained child less positively. Retained children perform more poorly in future academic work and are much more likely to drop out of school altogether (Holmes, 1989; Kreitzer, Madaus, & Haney, 1989; Mann, 1986). Further, research on kindergarten retention notes that it does not improve achievement, is not different from retention in later grades in its consequences, and has harmful effects on socio-emotional outcomes and on the development of self-concept (Shepard & Smith, 1989).

Tracking, often used to “equalize” opportunities for diverse groups, in fact, achieves the opposite. Students in low tracks are likely to experience negative effects personally and socially. Children in fixed ability groups are typically not treated equally by the teacher and miss out on the benefits of mixed ability groups. Tracking also tends to separate students along socio-economic lines (Slavin, 1987). Strategies such as cooperative learning and flexible grouping minimize the need for tracking. In the primary program, teachers adopt a model of teaching and learning that helps them cope with diverse groups of students.

Extra year programs refer to an transitional program designed to give children who are “immature” with more time to grow and develop. Extra year programs such as readiness and “developmental” kindergarten and junior or pre-first grades are forms of retention and also have the effect of tracking children.

A synthesis of studies finds no benefit for children who were enrolled in extra year programs. The effects of transition and extra year programs are indistinguishable from the effects of retentions (Shepard, 1989).

The following guidelines should be used when making decisions about young children (adapted from Unacceptable Trends in Kindergarten Entry and Placement, National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education, 1987):

• Teachers and administrators guard the integrity of effective, developmentally appropriate programs for young children. They do not yield to pressure for acceleration of narrowly focused, skill-based curricula.
• Multiple sources of information are used to make decisions about young children. Standardized tests are not used to decide if a child can enter school or be promoted.
• Any tests used with primary children are valid, reliable, and helpful in program planning and information sharing with parents. They are not used to create barriers to continuous progress or to sort children into what are perceived to be homogeneous groups.
• Children are enrolled in school based on their chronological age and their legal right to enter. Families are not counseled or pressured to delay entrance of their children for a year by keeping them at home or enrolling them in preschool. Schools aggressively encourage parents to enroll age-eligible children.
• Teachers and administrators increase the use of systematic observation and other alternative assessment strategies. They do not defer measurement decisions solely to psychometricians and test publishers.
• Retention is rejected as a viable option for young children. It is not perpetuated on the basis of false assumptions as to its educational benefit.
• Multi-age groupings are used as a means of providing challenging experiences for all children. They are not a justification for keeping some children in the same setting for longer periods of time, which is another form of retention.
• All children are welcomed as they are into heterogeneous classroom settings. They are not segregated into extra year programs prior to or following a given level.