International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies ISSN 2202-9478 Vol. 5 No. 2; April 2017 Australian International Academic Centre, Australia Causes of Grade Nine Students’ Grade Retention in General Secondary Schools of Dabat Woreda in North Gondar, Ethiopia Nahom Eyasu Department of Sociology, College of Social Sciences and Languages, Mekelle University, Ethiopia E-mail: tenseye@gmail.com Received: 07-11-2016 Accepted: 29-04-2017 Published: 30-04-2017 doi:10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.2p.84 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.2p.84 Abstract One of the great problems of Ethiopia for the educational arena is retention. Averagely 8.07% of each year of the secondary education students is repeated due to lack of achievement in this country. The percentage of retention in a country shows what proportion of students is regularly repeated in the same grade and who are, therefore, committing different crimes and misbehaved behaviors. Grade retention predicts many negative student outcomes: the frustration and humiliation associated with repeating the curriculum, combined with one’s physical size, may result in an increase in aggression and oppositional behavior. The main purpose of this study was to investigate some of the causes that contribute to grade nine students’ grade retention in general secondary schools of Dabat district. It has attempted to identify the major factors under two headings: in-school and out-of-school factors to present separate area of intervention. In order to attain the objectives, the study was carried out in two general secondary schools which were selected using comprehensive sampling techniques. The study involved 264(M=106 & F=158) grade repeaters and 44 teachers and 2 principals. The data gathered were analyzed using percentage, mean, Spearmen rank order correlation coefficient and t-test. Based on the result of the analysis, among the in-school factors, the highest percentages were observed for difficulty of language of instruction, students’ failure to study hard, poor quality of teaching, lack of guidance and counseling and frequent absenteeism of students were in-school related. On the other hand, low level of family income, parent (pupils) health problem, lack of parents support and child labor were identified as the major out- of-school causes for grade retention in grade nine secondary schools. It was also found out that the combined effect of both in-school and out-of-school factors was important in explaining students’ grade retentions in the secondary schools of the district. The incidence of the problem is relatively higher among girls than among boys. Keywords: In-school Causes; Out-of-school Causes; Grade nine; Retention; Secondary school students, Ethiopia 1. Introduction The high school completion, especially for grade 12 are viewed as individuals who have achieved important goals and, therefore, ready to take on new challenges such as job training, colleges, career, marriages, family, home, financial obligations and other adult responsibilities (Brodbelt, 1987). The young high school graduates, especially in the developing countries like Ethiopia are required to make up the chronic shortages of middle-level technical and material cadres (Tilaye, 1999). They disseminate the knowledge necessary to improve agricultural techniques, health services, governmental policy reforms and other changes to the common people (Tilaye, 1999). In short, they can serve an important change agents sustained economic growth of the nation (Genet, 1998). However, when students are evaluated there is variation in their level of achievement some might be success and other may not be success and failure is determine by evaluation (Genet, 1998). Arends (1994) indicated that evaluation helps to understand how well a particular student, group of students or teachers have performed on asset of learning objectives. Regarding to this idea, the National Association School Psychologists (2003) indicated that in most developing countries at national, state and district level developing grade level promotion standards. These standards underlined that students are promoted from one grade to the next based on the academic performance; this was one of the case in Ethiopia (Arends, 1994). Studies have shown the factors that relate to students educational wastage in different regions and countries (Genet, 1998; Mayer, Mullens and Moore, 2000; Tesfay & Thehay, 2006; Tilaye 1997). These factors can be categorized in a number of ways (Tilaye, 1997). Some of these factors are related to institutional practices and others are associated with society’s customs, beliefs and attitudes about education. Many writers also claim that school environment is one of the determinant factors for grade retention of students: the availability of instructional materials and facilities, teachers’ education and attitude, class size, academic difficulty etc (Bustillo, 1993; Fuller, 1987). Other than raising the amount of time required to complete the educational cycle and demand for incurring additional resources, grade repetition or failure reduces the intake capacity of the school (UNESCO, 1980). It also results in overcrowded classes (Brimer & Pauli, 1971). Consequently, the students’ and their parents’ motive and interest towards bringing good working environment on teaching-learning process decrease retention away (Davison, 1993; Eisemon, 1997; Hussen, 2000; Flourishing Creativity & Literacy