Effect of grade retention on self-system processes, school engagement, and academic performance.

Third- through 6th-grade retained students (n = 74) were compared with random (n = 60) and matched-ability (n = 69) samples of nonretained students from their present classrooms and students from earlier classrooms who were socially promoted (n = 35) when the retained students were held back. Retained students did not differ significantly from the comparison groups in perceptions of self-worth or peer relatedness but had significantly lower perceptions of cognitive competence than the random sample. Retained students did not perform as well academically as the random sample but performed just as well as the matched ability sample and better than the socially promoted sample