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When I heard this from the Maryland State Department of Education the other day my first reaction was, "Well, duh, yeah." Not eloquent, I know. But accurate.
As a career educator, we used to retain students in a grade level if they were not academically ready to move up. I also remember the idea of retaining students in certain grade levels as being a controversial one. In the 80's some students were potentially retained in almost every year they were in school. This caused some kids to be 16 and still in 7th grade.
Sometimes kids were held back not because they couldn't reach grade level expectations but because they just didn't do the work required to pass. Sometimes they just didn't attend enough days to pass.
In the 90's the possibility of retaining students was taken away except at the first-grade level. The argument was that the social stigma of being held back would hurt students' self-esteem and diminish their motivation. And, it was not productive for kids to fail so option that they were teenagers and still in 6th grade. So, schools barely ever held students back.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of this philosophy was that students were promoted to the next grade level without having the skills needed for success at that next level. The cumulative effect this was students who reached high school being four to five years behind their peers. Later, they graduated with a diploma that wasn't an accurate representation of their academic skills.
Of course, students receiving special education services or with documented learning disabilities were exempt for being retained at a grade level. This makes sense because these children don't often make a year's progress in a year.
Now coming full circle, the State of Maryland, under the direction of new State Superintendent Carey Wright, will be retaining students who cannot read on grade level by the end of third grade.
A proposed literacy policy in Maryland could have third-grade students held back for a year if they don’t achieve certain reading scores on state tests, or “demonstrate sufficient reading skills for promotion to grade 4.”
Students would only be retained in third grade one time.
This is Maryland's response to being ranked 40th nationally on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) test. Remember, Wright, who was formerly State Superintendent in Mississippi, faced the same problem there and allegedly moved that State from near the bottom in the United States to now being in the middle.
This initiative is tied to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future initiative. The state groups that monitor the goals and mission of that legislation (the State Board of Education and the Accountability and Implementation Board) have demanded more aggressive goals for the state's schools.
The boards voted to set a new goal for proficiency in literacy, English language arts, from 48% in 2023 to 63% by the 2025-26 school year for all students in grades three through eight.
The goal to improve math proficiency is even more ambitious. For fifth graders, the goal is to increase the proficiency level from 27% to 46% over the same time period. For students in grades third through eight, the proficiency level target would be raised from 23% to 46%. Source: Boards approve ‘ambitious’ goals for student test scores, absenteeism, teacher diversity - Maryland Matters
The plan is to provide interventions for students who have reading deficiencies in grades K-3 so they can achieve grade level literacy. Students would also be screened three times for dyslexia.
Tenette Smith, executive director of literacy programs and initiatives in the state Department of Education, said Tuesday. “We have to make sure that we are addressing kiddos’ needs, as well as their access to high-quality education. It becomes an equity issue.”
According to Smith, it is also an important issue for students before they move to fourth grade.
“When you are making that shift, you are providing more academic language and asking children to access or bear a heavier cognitive load. Kiddos are asked to do more word work,” Smith said. “As they progress from one grade to the other, third grade becomes that key grade level, that sort of gateway to being a fluent reader with the ability to analyze the text they are reading.”
Approximately 26 states in the U.S. are implementing this policy in order to get student literacy back on track.
There will be issues. First, the State is experiencing a teacher shortage. All of the extra support for early readers requires trained, competent teachers; teacher who could be in short supply. The State promises extra training for teachers, but that won't help if the teachers aren't available.
Maryland counties that have implemented the Science of Reading could be ahead of the curve on this initiative since their teachers have already been trained.
Another issue is when will supplemental instruction occur? Taking students out of regular classes causes them to be singled out and also to lose other valuable instructional/content time. Summer school is one answer, but not the silver bullet. It's expensive to pay teachers to teach in the summer and it also costs to cool building during the hot summers. Since free lunches are currently available in the summer, that may not be as much of an added cost.
Tutoring before and after school is hard on children who already spend six hours a day in school.
The plan will institute some of those before or after school programs as well.
Parents will be notified if their child displays any reading difficulties during the K-3 years.
The question is whether the strategy will work. When push comes to shove, the policy will either succeed or fail and the public will react accordingly. Will State test scores be a true measure of success or will the State keep changing the goal posts to protect funding or the jobs of bureaucrats.
Let's hope we don't keep going around and around this circle.
The policy is scheduled to be discussed by the state Board of Education on July 23. For those interested in taking the survey can go here, or send an email to [email protected] by July 19.
SPECIAL NOTE: Does it drive anyone else crazy that Smith refers to students as "kiddos"?
