A bill awaiting action in the General Assembly would abolish the third-grade reading guarantee. Passage of this bill will be a significant step in rebuilding literacy education in Ohio schools.
The rule requiring third graders who do not test at third grade level to be held back until they pass the test has been in Ohio law since the 2013-14 school year, though it has been waived since the coronavirus pandemic.
If the state’s experience with elementary reading skills shows that the reading guarantee was making a difference, then the case for resuming the retention requirement would be open and shut.
It has not been the case.
According to co-sponsoring Rep. Phillip Robinson, Jr., (D., Solon) since the launch of the reading guarantee, “we have seen no meaningful or significant improvements to 4th Grade reading proficiency levels.”
And from 2017 to 2019, scores went down. Mr. Robinson said that Ohio’s reading scores have been stagnant since 2002. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement.
The decision whether to retain a child in third, or any grade is one that will have a dramatic, even traumatic, impact on the child, and so the decision to hold back should not be one taken lightly.
It should be guided by the circumstances of each child, not by a top-down mandate from the legislature, which too often issues decisions that should be left to local legislators or local government.
House Bill 117, co-sponsored by Rep. Gayle Manning (R., North Ridgevlle), has bipartisan backing. The bill has already been passed by the House and now awaits action in the Senate.
The Third Grade Reading Guarantee law has a number of provisions designed to ensure that children are appropriately tested, and provided with tutoring and other assistance when they fail to reach and keep up with the reading skills appropriate to their age.
H.B. 117 would eliminate the retention requirement, and it would restrict English Language Arts standardized testing to once per year.
Support for keeping the retention has been minimal.
In a hearing in front of the House education committee in May, 2023, 10 witnesses gave prepared statements as proponents of dropping the retention requirement. No one stepped up to advocate to continue the retention.
In a Senate committee hearing, a week later, there were two proponent witnesses, and one opponent.
The proponents in the Senate committee represented portions of the public school establishment, including elementary and high school administrators, school board members, and school business officials.
The opponent was Lisa A. Gray of Ohio Excels, a business-based organization.
She presented a study that their organization sponsored which showed that children held back in 2013 ultimately tended to perform better than a control group of children whose “cut scores” were just high enough to earn promotion to fourth grade.
It is an interesting study. However, it is but one snapshot.
Gov. Mike DeWine has launched an intensive effort to convert teacher education at the college level and early grade reading instruction to follow proven methods that help children learn how to read. The “science of reading” approach is what Ohio needs — a research-based program backed up by buy-in from school professionals.
First Published May 13, 2024, 4:00 a.m.
