social promotion

noun

Definition of social promotion

: the practice of promoting a student from one grade level to the next on the basis of age rather than academic achievement

Recent Examples of social promotion from the Web

Some school districts do continue to have social promotion policies, which became popular over concerns that holding kids back would discourage them from trying and compound the problem.

— emily k. coleman, Lake County News-Sun, "Waukegan District 60 considering 'very large cultural shift' on passing students," 11 Apr. 2018
For two decades policy makers have harshly criticized public schools for social promotion—the practice of moving a child to the next grade level regardless of academic achievement.

— peg tyre, Scientific American, "Trump Administration Advances School Vouchers Despite Scant Evidence," 1 Aug. 2017
Hold students accountable for mastering content, end social promotion.

— devin kelly, Anchorage Daily News, "Anchorage School Board Q&A: How would you help close achievement gaps?," 7 Mar. 2018
Louisiana had long erred on the side of social promotion, often passing underachievers through school despite low reading and math levels.

— the hechinger report, NOLA.com, "About 40 percent of New Orleans high school students are held back at least 1 grade," 8 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'social promotion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.