Repetition, better known as “delay”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the subject of much debate within the education system. The controversy surrounding this long-standing issue has been heightened by topics such as the recent approval of academic standards. Research indicates that “the retention rate has increased by approximately 40% over the past 20 years, with up to 15% of all U.S. students dropping out each year and 30 to 50% dropping out at least once before the ninth grade” (Dawson, 1998). These discouraging statistics pose many problems within the school system. Difficulties can be seen at the organizational level, as well as within the classroom and, more disturbingly, within each student. The consequences, both positive and negative, reverberate throughout the school system. Repetition is a matter that requires a prodigious amount of investigation and must be examined carefully and thoroughly. Formally, grade retention is defined as the practice of requiring a student who has been in a given grade for a full school year to return to that grade. level for a later year (Jackson, 1975). Informally, this practice is used as a tool to enhance the academic or developmental growth of students who are unable to meet program requirements for various reasons. These reasons may include decreased cognitive functioning, physical immaturity, socio-emotional difficulties, and failure of standardized assessments. A child may be considered for retention if he or she has poor academic skills, is short, is the youngest in class, has moved frequently, has been absent repeatedly, performs poorly on pre-screening assessments or has limited English skills (Robertson, 1997). Additionally, the typical profile of a retained child is more likely to reveal an elementary-age student who is a black or Hispanic male with a late birthday, developmental delay, attention problems, low socio- economically, a single-parent family with a parent who either does not intervene or cannot intervene on behalf of the child (Robertson, 1997; Mattison, 2000). Predictive health factors such as hearing and speech disorders, low birth weight, enuresis, and exposure to cigarette smoke in the home are also observed in retained children (Byrd. ..... middle of document ...... recommended, what evidence should parents have on the effects of school retention. Review of Educational Research, 45, 613-635. Holmes, CT (1989). on non-promotion: a five-year follow-up Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, San Francisco, California, Rethinking education Digest, 56 (9), 30. -34. Slavin, Robert E., Karweit, N. and Wasik, B. Preventing Early School Failure: What Works? Darling-Hammond, Linda (1998). Avoiding both grade retention and social advancement, 48-53 Byrd, Robert S. and Weitzman, Michael L. (1994). Pediatrics, 93 (3), 481-488. Mattison, Richard E. (2000). School consultation: A review of research on issues specific to the school setting. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,