Social Promotion in schools

[Jesse Sheidlower]

OED has it from 1840 in the sense 'advancement in social class or
standing', and from 1948 in the educational sense 'the promotion of a
pupil to a more advanced class based on his or her age or behaviour,
despite a lack of appropriate academic achievement'.

Jesse Sheidlower

On Wed, Dec 04, 2013 at 04:25:09AM +0000, Baker, John wrote:
> They were calling it that when I was in grade school, c. 1971.
>
>
> John Baker
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Benjamin Torbert
> Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2013 7:41 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Social Promotion in schools
>
> How long has it been called that?  My student is writing a paper and can't find a reference earlier than the late 1980s, even though the practice dates back to the 19thC.
>
> BT
>
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