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

Examples of social promotion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on 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.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about social promotion

Dictionary Entries near social promotion

social philosophy

social promotion

social psychology

social registerite

Statistics for social promotion

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for social promotion

The first known use of social promotion was in 1948

See more words from the same year

Comments on social promotion

What made you want to look up social promotion? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

WORD OF THE DAY

chivy

to move or obtain by small maneuvers

Test Your Vocabulary

Summer 2019 Words of the Day Quiz

Which is a synonym of desideratum?

Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ