States Look at Holding Back 3rd Graders
article by James Dugan | February 14, 2012
Four states are exploring new laws that would require third grade students to be held back if they do poorly on reading exams. According to a new bill introduced by lawmakers in Colorado, even though parents would be able to request their student be promoted, ultimately it would be up to the district to make final decisions. Iowa, Tennessee, and New Mexico are also exploring similar legislation.
“We must do a better job of helping children learn to read,” said Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. “It’s unacceptable that nearly a fourth of our third-graders are not proficient in reading.”
Other states, like Florida, Arizona and Oklahoma, have already implemented similar laws. And Florida has had success in holding students back. However the new legislation in these four states has re-ignited the debate on whether being held back does more harm than good.
Education groups state that very little research supports the purported benefits of holding a student back. In fact according to some research, students who are held back are more likely to drop out.
“The third-grade retention really keeps me awake at night,” Dale Blez, an associate professor of educational psychology and child development at St. Ambrose University in Iowa said to The Cedar Rapids Gazette. “The governor talks about the how it works in Florida, and there are some questions of the research there. The problem is we have 40 to 50 years of research that shows that children who are retained are more likely to drop out.”
However, another study by The Annie E. Casey Foundation also found that students who can’t read proficiently by the third grade four times as likely to drop out of school as well.
Because of these concerns, many lawmakers and educators in favor of the new laws are also large proponents of making sure to identify these issues early on.
“The goal is not to retain students, but to get parents, teachers and students all working collaboratively to address the literacy problems when they first show up,” Colorado state Sen. Mike Johnston, a Democrat who is a sponsor of the bill said to The Wall Street Journal.
By intervening before the student reaches the third grade, it helps children with their ability to learn at crucial time. The transition from the third to the fourth grade is often when students move from learning to read toward reading to learn. Because of this educators want to strike a balance.
“We are trying to strike a balance between making sure children learn to read and recognize it's hard for a child to be held back,” Linda Fandel, Colorado’s governor's special assistant for education said to The Wall Street Journal. “We know it's hard on a child's self-esteem to be held back, but it's even harder on self-esteem to be illiterate.”
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