A Guide to Understanding the Well-Being of Children & Families in Erie County, Pennsylvania
Kindergarten and First Grade Retentions
CHARTS
Kindergarten and First Grade Retentions by DistrictMEASUREMENT
Retention in kindergarten and first grade are reported by School Evaluation Services of Standard and Poor’s.1 Standard and Poor’s analyzed data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Student retentions are the total number of children retained in a particular grade divided by the enrollment in that grade, and multiplied by 100.
DESCRIPTION
Students who repeat a grade in the early part of their school careers are less likely to have had the needed skills prior to entering formal schooling. These skills include such things as knowing how to count, how to hold a book and turn pages, that letters make words that are read instead of pictures, etc.
In the state of Pennsylvania, children are not required to attend school until they are eight years old. Kindergarten, although almost universally offered, is not required. Children generally begin formal elementary school between the ages of five and six when they attend kindergarten. Most of these kindergarten classes are half-day classes in Erie County although some school districts in the state are moving to full day kindergarten when it is feasible.
DATA ANALYSIS
- In 2000-2001, the City of Erie, Corry and Union City school districts had higher retention percentages than the state for both kindergarten and first grade. Fort LeBoeuf and Millcreek had higher percentages of retention in kindergarten than the state.
- The City of Erie shows a higher percentage of retentions in Grade 1 than do the other Urban Third Class cities. Scranton had a similar Grade 1 retention, yet a substantially higher percentage of Kindergarten students were retained in Scranton than in the City of Erie.
FOOTNOTE
1 School Evaluation Services. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2003, from www.ses.standardandpoors.com.