The Associated Press
MONTGOMERY (AP) — An estimated 1,800 Alabama students will have to repeat third grade because of poor reading scores under a new state transfer policy, the education department said Thursday.
The Alabama Literacy Act of 2019’s demanding requirement that third-graders meet certain reading standards to advance to fourth grade goes into effect this year. State lawmakers delayed implementation until this year to give students and schools time to catch up on pandemic-related learning losses. The requirement only applies to public school students.
Superintendent Eric Mackey gave a presentation to members of the state school board on Thursday about the number of students who will have to be held back. An estimated 1,832 third-graders will be held back and will have to repeat third grade. Mackey said the numbers are preliminary. Schools will release their final numbers next month.
Mackey said if students had to be held back, it would be better to do so in the lower grades.
“The later students are held back, the worse the social consequences. Third grade is not considered the beginning. It is the last effort, so to speak,” Mackey said.
The 2019 law requires third-graders to earn a minimum score on the state’s standardized reading exam or otherwise demonstrate through a portfolio that they have mastered the state’s third-grade reading standards. Students can also be moved up to fourth grade for “good cause,” according to the law.
Significantly fewer students are being held back than initially feared.
Standardized test results from the spring showed that 4,808 students did not meet the required scores. Students were given the opportunity to attend summer reading camps and take the test a second time.
