Braylon Price, 13, pauses on his way home from Bellefonte Middle School Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022, in Bellefonte, Pa. The teenager was among more than 45,000 Pennsylvania students whose parents elected to take advantage of a new state pandemic-era law option of holding their child back a year in school. He repeated the sixth grade. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)

By BROOKE SCHULTZ and HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press/Report for America
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As some children struggled to keep up with school in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, many states saw significant increases in the number of students held back to repeat grades. Twenty-two of the 26 states that provided data for the recent academic year, as well as Washington, D.C., saw an increase in the number of students who were held back, according to an Associated Press analysis. Three states — South Carolina, West Virginia and Delaware — saw retention more than double. Experts have cautioned about risks to students’ social lives and academic futures, but many parents have asked for do-overs to help their children recover.