Tennessee New Law -- Must pass 3rd grade reading test to move up to 4th grade (good, subjects)

[katharsis]

Of course this makes sense, and so I can see why many leftists would say it is not fair.

Many would rather have some people feel inferior for much of their adult lives rather than risk hurting the feelings of children and expecting them, with the assistance of their parents, to master basic skills.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Does anyone ever get held back these days? I haven't heard of that happening for a long time.

In my experience since my kids were in public school starting in 1997, the schools fight it -- STRONGLY.

And the kids know it. Doesn't give the more-or-less average kids much incentive to do their homework -- or even behave well in school if they are not 'naturally' so inclined.

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Does anyone ever get held back these days? I haven't heard of that happening for a long time.

Depends on what level.

Yes, kids get held back. I'm 68 and don't remember anyone ever being held back through 12 years. And I went to school with some kids who were dumber than a box of rocks. When we hit Junior High they went into SPED.

By high school the kids who weren't going to graduate and were in regular ed dropped out at some point. Nothing official in a lot cases, they just stopped coming to school.

Today Kindergarten is a choke point, especially for kids who haven't gotten the "plays well with others" piece. Typically it's a maturity issue.

Middle school doesn't like to hold back more than one year, mostly because it's not a good look to have 16 year olds in with 12 year olds, especially if the 16 year old is male and the 12 year old isn't.

High school is based on credits earned, and they have to be the "right" credits. Failing 9th Grade English keeps you listed as a 9th Grader next year. Now, those kids don't repeat all of 9th Grade (unless they've failed all their classes) but move on to the next class in the cycle (Modern World History after US as an example).

At some point the kid has to make up that failed class, in this case 9th Grade English, but any required class that's failed.

Sometimes they'll double up in school or night or summer school. We did have a Principal that didn't allow kids to make up failed classes in regular school so they had to do nights or summers.

Over my career we had a lot of kids who were 5th or even 6th year Seniors (and there were reasons why they were, not necessarily due to cognitive issues). I had a few over the years taking all three required Social Studies at the same time (Government, USH and World) because they'd failed the first two or even all of them, so they were scrambling to graduate.

[Riley.]

How dare they? LOL

[antredd]

Originally Posted by tnff

Some additional information. This year's test results where highly touted by the state education department as:
(emphasis theirs)
Proficiency gains were reflected in all tested grades.
Overall proficiency in ELA has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels, with more students scoring Met and Exceeded than 2019.
Tennessee is demonstrating learning acceleration and will continue to focus on doing what’s best for our kids


Actual numbers: Only 35.7% 3rd grade students scored at or above the minimum. That means 64.3% failed to meet the minimums.

If those numbers hold and the law performs as stated, roughly 64% of third graders will be held back. I suspect that's why so many educators are against this law. They will have a lot of explaining to do.

Just think about it, if there is a teacher shortage, and I am sure Tennessee isn't exempt, where are they going to find the teachers to teach those 3rd graders. If 64% of the class isn't able to pass a reading test, it sounds like the state will have to hire at least 2 new teachers to help those retained 3rd graders at each elementary school. It won't happen just because of that.

[BigCityDreamer]

Originally Posted by tnff

Tennessee has a new law coming into effect next year. If a child cannot pass the annual 3rd grade TCAP reading test, they child must be held back and not go to fourth grade.

This needs to be a national policy.

No child should be promoted to 4th grade if he or she cannot read at a basic level.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by BigCityDreamer

This needs to be a national policy.

No child should be promoted to 4th grade if he or she cannot read at a basic level.

That would mean there'd be more of an educational requirement to enter 4th grade than to be POTUS, that may explain a lot.

[ebbe]

No problem with the requirement but I do think they should offer extra help to those who need to catch up and meet the requirement. Sadly, not all parents are up to the challenge and responsibility of parenting. I'd like to see all kids who need some help reaching that milestone get there.

[Malloric]

Finally a state that's done with social promotion... maybe.

CA kind of did something similar and required that you know 7th grade math to graduate high school when I was in school... then they just dumbed down the 7th grade math.

[TheOldPuss]

This expectation and policy is a problem?
It worked this way for many years, successfully, I might add.