For the 3 school years beginning in 1983 and ending in 1986 an average of 57,000 students in grades 1 through 8 of the public schools of Louisiana was not promoted annually to the next grade. The annual rate of failure ranged between 11.37 and 12.24 percent of the student enrollment. This study, which provides a look at the nature and scope of non-promotions, reveals the following information: (1) two-thirds of the students who failed were males and three-fifths were non-whites; (2) the highest percentage of non-promotions occurred annually in grades one, seven, and eight; and (3) the failure of black males in the first grade was 1.5 times greater than the average of all students and twice that for whites. Although black males make up only 21.7% of enrollment, their failure rate was 34.2%. If public elementary education in Louisiana is to fulfill its responsibility to prepare students for secondary education and for adulthood, it must follow these corrective actions: (1) institute mandatory full-day kindergarten and half-day prekindergarten; (2) recruit male elementary teachers who will be role models for male students in the early years of schooling; and (3) adopt a rigorous testing program coupled with meaningful standards of readiness for promotion. Nineteen tables of data conclude this report. (VM)