Differential effects of promotion from and retention in grade on second- and fifth-grade students were investigated. It was hypothesized that (1) children retained in grade will evoke negative perceptions and thus have lower status than children regularly promoted; (2) more favorable attributions will be made to children who are regularly promoted than to their retained counterparts; (3) children with perceived higher status will be preferred over children who are retained for academic and social tasks; (4) given comparable task performance, regularly promoted students will receive more rewards than will children who have been retained; and (5) children who are retained will have less favorable social cognitions and expectancies about themselves and their school environment than will children who are regularly promoted. Subjects, 219 children attending a rural elementary school in northeast Georgia, provided data on self-esteem measures as well as on measures or tasks assessing peer reward allocation, social partner choice, task partner choice, impressions and attitudes about retained students and the school environment, and report card expectancy. Race of examiner and order of presentation of measures were counterbalanced. Results are discussed, and related materials are appended. (RH)