Ninth Grade Continues to have the Highest Rate
Grade-Level Retention Rates Show Decline
The TEA says in its latest annual 2019-20 grade-level retention report that in the fall of the 2020-21 school year (the latest data available), a total of 86,981 (1.7 percent) Texas public school students who were enrolled in fall 2020 had been enrolled in the same grade during the prior (2019-20) school year. (Note: Click here if you have problems opening this link.)
That’s a decrease from the overall 2.4 percent retention rate across all grade levels for the two prior school years.
- Note: This latest report reflects the impact COVID-19 had on Texas public schools because the pandemic impacted schools at the end of the 2019-20 school year.
That’s when the STAAR was canceled, as were the STAAR-linked grade-level promotion requirements.
The latest data (see graphic below) reflects that ninth grade continues to be the grade with the highest percentage of students retained, a trend that has been reflected in each of the approximately 25 years that the TEA has been keeping track of retention data.
For the 2019-20 retention report, 5.1 percent of ninth grade students were retained, a decrease from the 8.3 percent ninth grade retention rate recorded for 2018-19.
Electronic Only Format
For the latest data, the TEA ceased the publication of the report as a downloadable PDF booklet (see historical reports here), and instead is presenting the data via an online searchable database that allows searches by grade level, student demographics, educational program, etc.
The latest data is also searchable (here) by individual campus, school district, county and education service center region.