Academic delays occur when a child falls behind his cohort, or a child is older than the age expected, for his/her level of learning. It is difficult once a delay has been identified, for a child to catch up as schools do not hold back students. Thus each year students fall farther and farther behind. The number of students that fall in this group with delays, increases year to year as each year more students are added to this group but none are removed. In elementary school, the number of students with academic delays increases yearly but actually decrease in secondary school. This is due to the students with academic delays in secondary school dropping off, transferring to a vocational training, or transferring to an adult general education program.
