The Brookings Institution's Center on Children and Families hosted an event on "Student Promotion and Retention: What's Best for Kids?" to examine school policies that retain students based on their reading skills.
Several states and school districts are now retaining students for remedial instruction who have not mastered basic reading skills by the end of third grade. The discussion examined applied practices and whether it is in the best interest of the students.
Former Colorado Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien (D), and senior fellow at The Piton Foundation, deliver keynote remarks.
Additional participants included: Ron Haskins, senior fellow and co-director of the Center on Children and Families at Brookings; Martin West, assistant professor at Harvard University; Russ Whitehurst, senior fellow and director of the Brown Center for Education Policy at Brookings; Shane Jimerson, professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Karen Schimke, Early Learning project manager at the Education Commission of the States; and Mary Laura Bragg, director of state policy implementation at the Foundation for Excellence in Education.