Charles Davis Oct 27, 2015:

And Colorado has a Dropout Prevention, Retention, and Recovery Subcommittee

Charles Davis Oct 27, 2015:

Then again... Maybe we could join forces here. I've just discovered the (US) School Dropout Retention and Recovery Act of 1987. It was never enacted, but the wording is interesting:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/100/s1078

Charles Davis Oct 27, 2015:

Well, I don't know... I don't have first-hand experience of working in US education. But the fact is that if you search for "student retention" you overwhelmingly find pages referring to higher education. If you search for "school" + "retention" you overwhelmingly find pages referring to grade retention. I don't say exclusively, but the exceptions take a bit of finding. It's also true that "retention and reentry" together don't seem to occur at all in relation to schools. On the other hand, outside the US "retention" doesn't (to my knowledge) have this sense of repeating the school year, and in Australia, for example, "retention and reintegration", with the right sense, does occur. There are also cases in the UK. So if the target is not American English, "retention" could be suitable.

Marcelo González Oct 27, 2015:

@Wendy Retention strategies exist in relation to many things, including *customers* (ie customer retention) and *employees* (employee retention). Increasing student retention is just the flip side of decreasing dropout rates. In my years of experience in education, retention is less often used to refer to (the idea of) not being promoted to the next grade. For that, not being promoted to (or not passing into) would be two of several options. In common everyday language (at least in the US), other options for that include 'left/held back' (eg 'Joey was held back in the sixth grade'). I hope this helps.

Darius Saczuk Oct 27, 2015:

Generally, obviously, more students drop out of high school and college than out of elementary school.

Darius Saczuk Oct 27, 2015:

Example from a middle school setting Simmons Middle School Annual Report 2011-12 - Aurora ...
www.aurora.edu/.../simmons-annual-report-11-12.pdf
Describe the student retention strategies in place within the program to maximize the number of days a student ...... How many middle schools has your child.

Darius Saczuk Oct 27, 2015:

@Charles Hey, Charles, Based on my personal experience, it is widely used in high school and college/university settings. Not sure about lower levels.

Charles Davis Oct 27, 2015:

Dariusz Isn't student retention in this sense more of a university/college term than a (K-12) school term?

Darius Saczuk Oct 27, 2015:

STUDENT RETENTION is in fact, unfortunately, one of the most commonly heard terms at US college campuses.

Darius Saczuk Oct 27, 2015:

In the United States,"student retention" is widely used. In my college we have "student retention workshops" where we discuss "student retention strategies". I don't think STUDENT RETENTION will be misunderstood.