Perceptions of engagement and school climate: Differences between once-retained and multiple-retained students in Brazil

Abstract

Differences in self-reported perceptions of cognitive-behavioral and emotional engagement between students who were continuously promoted, retained once, or retained multiple times were examined in this study of 199 students, grades 5–9, in Brazil. Retained students reported significantly less cognitive-behavioral engagement than their promoted peers. Students retained multiple times, but not those retained only once, reported less emotional engagement. Group differences also were found in two of six areas of school climate: fairness and clarity of rules, and school safety. Findings suggest the need for interventions that target school engagement and school climate to reduce the use of retention.