Those Third-Grade Punishment Laws
STATES RETAIN THIRD-GRADERS
Michigan joined the Third-grade Punishment Club in 2016 during the administration of Rick, “let-them-drink-lead,” Snyder. The 2019-2020 school year is the first year that third graders can be retained-in-grade for failing a state reading test.
Fewer than half the states in the US have laws that force the retention of third-graders who can’t pass an arbitrary reading test. Louisiana, for example, did have a retention law, but has rescinded it because it didn’t work. Good for them.
On the other hand, Florida, Ohio, Arizona, Texas, and Indiana are among the several states which continue to punish students who don’t learn to read on the state’s timetable. They still retain students despite the fact that it doesn’t work.
In a study of the Florida retention law, students who were retained fared worse in the long term than if they hadn’t been retained.
1. How did state-mandated third grade retention policies, under the A+ Plan, impact standard diploma acquisition in retained students as compared to academically similar non-retained students?
- Students who were not retained were 14.7% more likely to receive a standard high school diploma.
2. How did the retained group compare to the similar non-retained group on the Grade 10 FCAT Reading?
- Both groups had difficulty catching up. In the retained group, 93% remained below proficient into their 10th grade year. In the non-retained group, 85.8% remained below proficient.
This is not the first piece of research showing that retention-in-grade doesn’t CONTINUE READING: Those Third-Grade Punishment Laws | Live Long and Prosper
