INDIANAPOLIS – More third graders will be retained due to lack of reading proficiency under a bill Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Monday.
Senate Enrolled Act 1 was among 67 bills he approved. Others include cracking down on xylazine, creating a bobcat hunting season, and election changes.
The new reading law seeks to remedy Indiana’s literacy “crisis” by requiring schools to administer the statewide IREAD test in second grade — a year earlier than current requirements — and directing new, targeted support to at-risk students and those struggling to pass the exam.
But if, after three tries, a third grader can’t meet the IREAD standard, legislators want school districts to retain them.
That number could reach into the thousands according to recent data. Last year, 13,840 third-graders did not pass IREAD, according to test data. Of those, 5,503 received an exemption and 8,337 did not. But about 95% of students without an exemption moved onto 4th grade and just 412 were retained.
While much of the bill has received bipartisan support, the retention language has been passionately debated in both chambers.
Republicans have repeatedly said the proposal is not a “retention bill,” and holding Hoosier kids back in school should “be a last resort.” They maintain, too, that if literacy supports and remediation in the law are properly implemented, no children will have to be retained.
Exceptions are carved out for students retained in third grade before, special-education students, certain English language learners, and students who pass the math portion of the statewide assessment and receive remedial reading instruction.
Schools will also be required to offer summer school to struggling readers starting this year, although the bill’s final version does not force students to attend.
The retention provision takes effect for tests during the 2024-2025 school calendar.
Read about other bills signed into law on Monday in Niki Kelly’s story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here. Most go into effect July 1.
