Light's Retention Scale (LRS)

The LRS–2006 Edition remains a powerful tool that assists school professionals when making the sensitive and often difficult decision about promoting or retaining a child. It provides opportunities for dialogue between parents and educators to assure all involved that the retention decision is based on thoughtful, professional findings. The comprehensive literature review provides up-to-date summaries of research, as well as historical views of how educational practice and thinking has changed over the years. The LRS–2006 is designed to include parents in the process.
This edition includes:
»»consideration of whether or not a student has preschool experience
»»an up-to-date review of the current findings on both sides of the issue
»»a changed score structure for the items
»»revised item descriptions
»»new cutoff scores

The record form is easy to use, identifying 20 areas of interest. Details that explain the rationale for including each area in the LRS–2006 are provided in the manual. The Light’s Parent Guide explains each factor in detail, as well as the rationales used in making the decision.

Administration and Scoring
The LRS–2006 is designed to be completed during a parent conference. Each of the 20 factors is scored to reflect the impact that each factor may have regarding whether or not to retain. Cutoff scores (provided in manual) determine if retention would be helpful or potentially harmful to the child.