Hawaii holds back roughly one in 13 freshmen, and its own data show what happens next

Hawaii requires freshmen to earn five credits to move on to 10th grade, and the state's own numbers show what that rule produces. The reporting finds about one in 10 freshmen repeated ninth grade in 2021-22 — more than double the national rate — improving to roughly one in 13 by 2024-25, while fewer than 1 percent of elementary and middle schoolers repeat a grade. The outcome figures are the warning: only 57 percent of students who failed two or more ninth grade classes finished high school within five years, against a state average of 89 percent. A RAND economist quoted argues retention at this age can itself harm students.