CIE-ISPA – Tese de Doutoramento
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- Grade retention and the affective components of learning: effects on students’ self-concept, self-esteem, goal orientations, and school belongingPublication . Pipa, Joana; Peixoto, FranciscoABSTRACT: Every year, many students need help to meet the academic standards and expectations required for the different academic subjects and grade levels. For these students, grade retention would be the most likely scenario at the final of the school year. Grade retention is one of the most debated educational measures, with researchers questioning for decades whether it would be an effective or detrimental practice for students. This ongoing debate results from the little consensus obtained from the empirical studies investigating grade retention effects on students’ academic and non-academic outcomes, either in the short or long term. Particularly, mixed findings were obtained considering students' affective components of learning that constitute a valuable aspect of students’ academic success and adjustment. The consequences of grade retention on this group of variables, such as students’ self-concept, self-esteem, motivation, or engagement, have greatly concerned educators. Some advocate that grade retention would help students improve their self-beliefs and motivation because it would allow them more time to learn the academic content they were struggling with. Others claim that grade retention is a stressful, demotivating, and stigmatising event that would undermine students’ affective experiences. Thus, a clear answer regarding the effectiveness of grade retention is still needed through more clarity provided by research investigating the effects of grade retention on students’ academic and non-academic outcomes. In this dissertation, we aimed to contribute to that answer. For that purpose, we conducted a meta-analysis summarising the findings of studies conducted during the last two decades the on the effects of grade retention on students’ achievement, psychosocial variables, academic career, and professional career. In addition, given the inconclusive findings regarding the impact of grade retention on students’ affective components of learning, our second aim of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of grade retention on students’ self-concept, self-esteem, goal orientations, sense of school belonging and sense of school valuing. For this purpose, we conducted a cross-sectional study using the Portuguese data from PISA 2018 assessment and a longitudinal study following students initially in the 7th grade for 3 to six years. Finally, we aimed to investigate the moderating effects of school retention composition on the relationship between grade retention and those affective components, considering the PISA 2018 data. The rationale behind this final aim was that students’ experiences are shaped within the context, in this case, the school, where they pertain. Thus, grade retention experiences may differ whether students are retained in a school with more or few students in the same circumstances. Our findings provided little support for the effectiveness of grade retention, given that the negligible or adverse effects on students’ outcomes outweigh the small benefits that have emerged, particularly on students’ affective components of learning and in the long term. Moreover, our results revealed spillover effects of grade retention, affecting non-retained students. Based on the findings of this dissertation, we advise against the use of grade retention or, at least, caution in its application.