The Effect of Repetition on the Academic Performance of Primary School Repeaters

ABSTRACT Repetition has been extensively employed as a remedial tool for low achieving students. Test results on children’s learning report that approximately one third of students benefits from repetition while the remaining two thirds make fair to poor academic progress. This study attempts to define the characteristics which differentiate those students who respond favourably to repetition from those who do not. Sex, I.Q., the grade in which repetition occurred and the reason for repetition were the variables selected for investigation. Students were 78 boys and 54 girls who repeated in either grade 3, 4, 5 or 6. Position in year for the year before repetition, the year of repetition and the year following repetition were examined. The results indicate that the outcome of repetition cannot be predicted from sex, I.Q., grade in which repetition occurred, the position in year before repetition or the reason for repetition. It was hypothesised that non-intellect factors such as motivational and characterological variables may affect the outcome of repetition and therefore need to be explored further.