Progress -- the goal of repeating; Staying Back, by Janice Hale Hobby and others. Gainesville, Fla.: Triad Publishing Company. 93 pp. $10.95 cloth; $6.95 paper.

This very upbeat book about repeating a grade in elementary school recounts the experiences of seven children in grades one through six who took a school year over with very positive results.

The loving support these children received from their teachers and families helped overcome the social stigma of repeating. Parental pride was set aside so that it did not interfere with the children's second effort to learn what had not been learned in the preceding year.

Children facing grade repetition could read or have read to them these success stories. (Some parents, before turning the book over to a young child, need to know that two of the stories give some details of the prolonged illnesses that made repeating a grade advisable for two of the seven children involved.)

A separate section for parents gives some useful advice on adult attitudes and behavior that could help turn a potential crisis over failing grades into courageous willingness to utilize school resources for mastering one level before proceeding to another.

Dr. William Pierce, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, says ''social promotion'' is declining in acceptability to parents as well as school professionals and that ''there will be more grade repetition as a spin-off from the general mood of the American public to ensure quality in their children's education.''

Throughout, this book reiterates the theme that ''staying back'' does not mean ''dumb'' or ''failure.'' Each child learns to cope with parental, peer, and academic pressures and comes to view the experience as less struggle and more achievement.

Triad Publishing Company can be reached at PO Box 13096, Gainesville, Fla. 32604.