Contrary to the findings from previous reviews we found little support for the general notion that greater amounts of participation in afterschool programs was related to academic, behavioral, or socio-emotional outcomes. However, some relationships did emerge depending on how participation was conceptualized and measured, and the methodology used to assess the relationship between participation and outcomes. For example, some benefits occurred when participants with high levels of participation were compared to non-participants, not when they were compared to other program participants. Several suggestions are offered to improve future research on the relationship between aspects of participation and developmental outcomes.

Does the Amount of Participation in Afterschool Programs Relate to Developmental Outcomes

Using data from the Chicago Longitudinal Study (CLS), an ongoing investigation of a panel of low-income minority children growing up in an inner city, this study investigated whether retention is a...

Grade Retention, Postsecondary Education, and Public Aid Receipt

The contents of this publication may be reproduced in part, except for commercial purposes, provided the extract is preceded by a reference to 'Eurydice network', followed by the date of publication of the document. 3 PREFACE ? I am very pleased to present this study by Eurydice on the critical subject of grade retention. This issue is part of the wider struggle against school failure and early school leaving; problems which have long been priorities of national education policies and now have a high priority in the European policy agenda. The Europe 2020 strategy to exit the economic crisis and to build smart and inclusive growth includes the commitment to reducing early school leaving from the current rate of 14.4 % to below 10 % by 2020. Strategies for combating school failure are, therefore, at the centre of discussions at European level. This has led to a renewed focus on practices for grade retention and their impact on children having difficulties at school and has been the subject of research. Cooperation on Schools' (European Commission, 2008a) commented as follows on the practice of repeating a year as a strategy to combat difficulties: 'in some education systems up to 25 % of pupils repeat a year whilst in others this rarely happens. This measure is very costly. Whilst some pupils who repeat a year catch up, the vast majority do not. The repetition rate is clearly higher for children from disadvantaged groups and, in the long term, the results of children who repeat a year are often worse than those weaker pupils who were not held back.' In order to reach the targets set at European level, effective education policies, based on evidence, are essential. Similarly, by learning from each other and exchanging good practices, countries can critically examine and improve their policies. In order to better understand national practices regarding grade retention, the European Commission has engaged the Eurydice Network to carry out a comparative analysis of the policies in place in European countries. 4 I am convinced that this study has produced a valuable inventory of the legislation and practices in place regarding pupils' repetition of a school year and that it will be of great interest to policy-makers, practitioners as well as to the wider public.

Grade Retention during Compulsory Education in Europe: Regulations and Statistics.

"Don't crack under pressure!"--Do leisure time physical activity and self-esteem moderate the relationship between school-based stress and psychosomatic complaints?

Objective: Stressful experiences occupy a central role in most etiological models of developmental psychopathology. Stress alone, however, insufficiently explains negative health outcomes. This raises the question why some children and adolescents are more vulnerable to the development of psychopathological symptoms thanothers.Theprimarypurposeofthisresearchwastodemonstrate whetherleisuretimephysicalactivityandself-esteemprotectagainst stress-induced health problems. Method: The findings are based on a cross-sectional study of407 Swissboys andgirls (M=14.01years). All variables are self-reported. Analyses of covariance were applied to test for main and moderatoreffects.Results:The findingssuggest that school-based stress and psychosomatic complaints are important issues during adolescence. The results show that a higher levelofpsychosomaticcomplaintsaccompaniesstress.Surprisingly, psychosomatic complaints and physical activity were unrelated. Likewise, no association was found between physical activity and stress. In contrast, students with high self-esteem reported significantly less complaints and a lower extent of perceived stress. Finally, the results do not support the stress-moderation hypothesis. Neither physical activity nor self-esteem buffered against the detrimental effects of school-based stress on psychosomatic health. Conclusion: The findings lend support to previous research with German-speaking samples but are in marked contrast to AngloSaxon studies, which generally support the role of physical activity as a moderator of the health–illness relationship. In this investigation, developmental features and methodological limitations may have accounted for the insignificant results. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Short communication "Don't crack under pressure!"—Do leisure time physical activity and self-esteem moderate the relationship between school-based stress and psychosomatic complaints?

This article presents a summary of results from a Swiss nationwide empirical study of the determinants of grade retention, its effects on learning, and its social and emotional consequences. Results show that the decision for grade retention does not rest only on the pupil's actual academic performance but also on the teacher's attitudes and evaluations. With regard to improvement in learning, the study yields contrasting short- and medium-term results: They are positive in the case of same-grade comparisons and negative when same-age comparisons are applied. However, globally, the effectiveness of grade retention is rather unsatisfactory, particularly when one considers its long-term consequences, although there is no evidence of negative social or emotional consequences. It is nevertheless suggested that grade retention should be avoided at the primary school level.

Grade retention: decision-making and effects on learning as well as social and emotional development

In this study, we examined the development of mathematics achievement in children attending extracurricular activities intensively in comparison with the development in a control group of children attending only the obligatory hours of school instruction. In addition, we investigated the question of possible effects of intensity of attendance and quality of extracurricular activities on achievement in students attending extracurricular activities from the end of Grade 1 to the end of Grade 3. This was a longitudinal study of a sample of N = 295 students in the first years of school at 35 primary schools in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The results show that attendance in extracurricular activities had a positive effect on the development of students’ achievement. Students who attended extracurricular activities intensively in Grade 1, students who attended high-quality extracurricular activities, and especially those who did both, had greater improvement.

Effects of extracurricular activities and their quality on primary school-age students’ achievement in mathematics in Switzerland

Klassenwiederholung ; Determinanten, Wirkungen und Konsequenzen.

Le redoublement scolaire : ses déterminants, son efficacité, ses conséquences

Klassenwiederholung. Empirische Untersuchung zum Repetitionsentscheid und zu den Auswirkungen auf die Lernenetwicklung sowie auf soziale und emotionale Faktoren.

Marianne Schuepbach

Papers

Grade retention: decision-making and effects on learning as well as social and emotional development

Effects of extracurricular activities and their quality on primary school-age students’ achievement in mathematics in Switzerland

Klassenwiederholung ; Determinanten, Wirkungen und Konsequenzen.

Le redoublement scolaire : ses déterminants, son efficacité, ses conséquences

Klassenwiederholung. Empirische Untersuchung zum Repetitionsentscheid und zu den Auswirkungen auf die Lernenetwicklung sowie auf soziale und emotionale Faktoren.