Some American children struggled to keep up with schoolwork in the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many states saw large increases in the number of students who had to repeat grades. Traditionally, experts say that repeating a grade can hurt a child’s social life and academic future. But many parents have asked for their children to repeat grades to help them recover from the difficulties of online learning, quarantines and school worker shortages. The Associated Press examined data from 26 states plus the District of Columbia on the most recent academic year. It found that 22 of the states, plus D.C., saw an increase in the number of students who were retained, or held back a year. Three of those states South Carolina, West Virginia and Delaware saw the number of retained students more than double. Pennsylvania passed a law during the pandemic permitting parents to let their children redo classes. The following year, the number of retained students in the state increased by about 20,000.