|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are soley
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
 |
Education Dive
The 50 States of Education Policy: Do 3rd-grade retention policies work?
Naaz Modan
July 30, 2019
This coming school year, a 2016 Michigan law mandating retention for
3rd graders reading below proficiency level will go into effect. The
state will join 17 others that have such such legislation, including
Nevada, which just began implementing its new policy in July.
First introduced in California in 1998, mandatory retention laws have
recently gained popularity as a strategy to improve literacy and lower
drop-out rates for struggling readers before the end of 3rd grade.
Similar policies were then adopted in Florida by then-Gov. Jeb Bush in
2002 as part of a broader packet of reforms, and have since spread to
states across the U.S. Currently, 18 states and the District of
Columbia require retention for students reading below proficiency by
the time they complete 3rd grade. Several other states, including
Texas, New Jersey and Maryland, allow retention but do not require it.
In recent legislative sessions, lawmakers in New Mexico attempted to
pass a bill that would hold back students, but the measure failed for
the eighth consecutive year after state Democrats raised questions
about the lack of additional funding. Lawmakers in Nebraska, another
state to propose retention policies, failed to pass Legislative Bill
651 after opponents of the measure testified against it in the
Education Committee hearing.
The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE), the largest public
school system in the nation, implemented similar policies for 3rd
graders in the 2003-04 school year, and for 5th and 7th graders in
subsequent years. In 1997, Chicago Public Schools also used retention
for 3rd, 6th and 8th graders.
But the Chicago district recently tweaked its policies to allow more
students to pass assessments after receiving criticism for doing more
harm than good when studies showed that the city’s nine-year attempt to
end social promotion — or advancing students to the next grade level
regardless of skill mastery — had significantly increased special
education placements and led to higher high school dropout rates.
Multiple studies and reports point to the critical importance of strong
reading skills by the time students enter 4th grade, when they need to
acquire information from higher-level texts. Low-income students who
cannot read proficiently by this time are at risk for dropping out
later in school and for joining the nation’s least-skilled and
lowest-earning citizens.
|
|
|
|
