This research was designed to delineate the effects of the retention in grade process upon a child's academic, social, and emotional development. The primary purpose of the study was to identify characteristics of children who benefit from the retention process. The secondary purpose was to identify those factors from the retained year that contribute to success during that year. One-hundred-forty-six first grade children, identified by their teachers in the spring of 1979 as candidates for retention, were monitored. Of the total group, 84 children remained in the first grade for the following school year and 62 were promoted to the second grade. All 144 children were individually tested with a variety of instruments designed to measure intellectual functioning, cognitive and physical development, academic achievement, perceptual-motor ability, and interpersonal relationships. Additionally, in order to establish the relationship of parental and teacher attitudes and classroom organizational strategies to success following the non-promotion or promotion of children, subjects' parents and teachers were interviewed and the teachers' classes were observed in spring 1979 and spring 1980. In general, results indicated that the child's physical size, visual-motor development, family background, early life experience, and teacher philosophy were relatively unimportant determinants of whether or not the child emerged successfully from the repeated year. The best predictors of outcomes were children's initial status in three areas -- academic skills, emotional development, and social skills. Copies of teacher and parent interview forms, as well as the instrument used in observing classroom environments and curricula, are appended. (Author/MP)