February 6, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
This spring, if your child is in the third grade, a single test could determine if they go on to fourth grade or if they will be held back.
According to the state, only 37% of those students read proficiently. The percentage is about the same locally.
(Click links below to view recent letters to parents from the DeKalb School District)
DeKalb Co Oct 2nd grade letter.pdf
The Third Grade Retention legislation just went into effect this school year, but already state lawmakers have filed at least 18 proposals to try to address concerns about the new reading law that could force tens of thousands of third-graders here and across the state to attend summer school this year to avoid being held back if they don’t show proficiency on their TCAP test for English Language Arts.
Patrick Cripps, Director of Schools in DeKalb County told WJLE that he doesn’t like the Third Grade Retention Law.
“A child could be advanced in Math or Science but if they are determined “below” or “approaching” in ELA that student would be held back. There are many factors that go into a child’s education and to allow one test to be a snapshot as to whether a student moves up to the next grade level or not based on one test (ELA) is not fair,” said Director Cripps.
Several bills in the state legislature would gut the retention provision altogether, while others would keep the law mostly intact but extend related state-funded summer and after-school programs beyond this year.
Some measures would give authority back to local school districts instead of the state to determine which students should be retained. Others would add measures beyond Tennessee’s annual test for making such a decision. And one proposal would establish a new reading and retention checkpoint even earlier than third grade — making students who are finishing kindergarten take a reading test to determine whether they are ready for the first grade.
The controversial law was passed in 2021 during a weeklong special legislative session called by Gov. Bill Lee to address learning disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The same law created summer learning recovery camps that began that year and tutoring programs that started in 2022.
The interventions were intended to help students catch up from the pandemic, but the law’s retention provision — which kicks in with this year’s class of third-graders — has sparked opposition across the state.
Third grade is considered a critical year for reading because literacy is foundational to all subsequent learning. But reading scores have been mostly stagnant in Tennessee, with only about a third of the state’s third graders meeting the law’s high threshold for proficiency based on state tests.
In 2011, lawmakers passed a retention law to try to address the problem, but the statute was largely unenforced, with few third graders being held back by local school leaders. That set the stage for the 2021 retention provision that, starting this school year, requires third graders to get extra help if they don’t show proficiency on their TCAP test for English language arts.
The law says students whose scores on state tests show they are “approaching” proficiency must attend a summer camp and demonstrate “adequate growth” on a test administered at the camp’s end, or they must participate in a tutoring program in the fourth grade. Students who score “below” proficiency must participate in both intervention programs.
Third graders are exempt from retention if they were retained in a previous grade; have or may have a disability that affects reading; are English language learners with less than two years of English instruction; or retest as proficient before the beginning of fourth grade.
Although the law provides options for students to re-take the TCAP ELA exam during the summer Director Cripps said challenges remain for students and their families.
“If a student doesn’t pass the test or if the child is “below” or “approaching” he or she has options to take the TCAP again during summer break. The problem with that is the TCAP during the school year is on paper and pencil and the one during the summer is on computer and that is a totally different set up for a kid from the way the first test was given. Of course, the turnaround time is supposed to be pretty quick in getting those scores back so if the student fails to pass again, he or she can come to a summer school or they can choose tutoring for their 4th grade year and still move on, but they have to attend 90% of the time,” Director Cripps continued.
Extra work for students during the summer, Cripps explained could also create a hardship on families.
“You are really pigeonholing families. There are things they have going on in summer that a kid has no control over, and this dictates how parents schedule their summertime. I have a problem with that,” said Director Cripps. “There are other avenues that need to be looked at and I do appreciate that they are planning to allow us to have a little say whether a kid goes on because I have a problem with one test determining if a child goes on to be a 4th grader or not. I would hate to have one test define him or her. And what about when this kid gets in high school, and he is 19 years old? Its tough enough to keep kids in school and engaged at 18 years old. I can’t imagine having 19-year-old kids and how that is going to affect the graduation rate,” Director Cripps said.
State Representative Michael Hale said he supports making changes in the third-grade retention law which currently provides up to nine options for a student to advance even if he or she has failed the TCAP ELA test including an appeals process at the state level. Hale said he and other state lawmakers believe the appeal should be handled at the local level.
“The law currently provides for a nine-step process beginning with the initial TCAP test and if students don’t succeed on that or are deemed below average then there is a short form TCAP along with the process of tutoring, going to summer school, etc. but there are challenges with those from the local school district standpoint. Finally, there is an appeals process and right now this is the toughest issue we are having with the Governor’s administration. They want that appeals process to be handled through the state school board where we as legislators feel like that should be a local decision through a local process,” said Representative Hale.
Director Cripps praised Representative Hale for his cooperation on this issue. “He has been great reaching out to us to find out what we think,” said Director Cripps.