Secondary education is more flexible, as students can take different classes based on their academic level rather than strictly by grade.
They contend that retention is not a cost-effective response to poor performance when compared to other interventions, such as additional tutoring or summer school, which are often cheaper and more effective.
When socially promoted students reach higher levels of education, they may be unprepared, fail courses, and struggle to make normal progress towards graduation.
They believe social promotion has the following negative impacts: Some argue that most elementary school students do not take their education seriously, making retention less effective.
It is also argued that social promotion, by preventing elementary students from advancing at their own pace, is a key reason why they do not take their education seriously.
By the time students reach high school, the retention rate for boys is about ten percentage points higher than for girls.
However, by high school, the retention rate is about 15 percentage points higher for African Americans and Hispanics than for whites.
[4] In 1999, educational researcher Robert M. Hauser commented on the New York City school district's plan to end social promotion: "In its plan to end social promotion, the administration appears to have [included] ... an enforcement provision—flunking kids by the carload lot—about which the great mass of evidence is strongly negative.
Results were robust across two distinct IV comparisons: an across-year approach comparing students who were essentially separated by the year they happened to have been born, and a regression discontinuity design.
In 1999, the city again eliminated social promotion, but it was reinstated after the number of repeaters reached 100,000 by 2004, driving up costs and leading to cutbacks in numerous programs, including those designed to help underachievers.
Students with specific needs or disabilities require special teaching approaches, equipment, or care within or outside a regular classroom.