INDIANAPOLIS – Scrambling to improve literacy rates among Hoosier students, state lawmakers seem adamant about toughening Indiana’s policy that requires most kids who are deficient in reading to repeat the third grade.
But the proposal has so far been met with skepticism from Hoosier teachers, school officials, and education experts who maintain that a more stringent statewide retention law could further inflate classroom sizes and have negative social and emotional effects for students. Critics additionally caution that holding back more kids will add hundreds of millions of dollars more to state education expenses.
The idea has so far been tossed around by Republican legislative leaders, who said the current state law isn’t being implemented effectively. The latest reading scores showed that one in five Hoosier third graders continue to struggle with foundational reading skills.
Gov. Eric Holcomb said he is working on a similar proposal but hasn’t provided specific details.
Hoosier third-graders who now fail the statewide reading exam can be held back, although there are numerous exceptions, and deciding how to implement the state policy is ultimately left up to schools.
Indiana does not track third-grade retention related to IREAD-3 testing, making it hard to quantify how many students are required to repeat the third grade specifically as a result of their inability to pass the exam.
No bills have been released yet, but drafts are expected when lawmakers reconvene for the 2024 legislative session on January 8. Indiana’s State Board of Education is expected to discuss retention at its monthly meeting, scheduled for Tuesday.
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