11/18/2024

Third Grade Retention Laws: How Data Reporting Brings Needed Interventions to Students in Earlier Grades

Across the country, classroom educators and school leaders feel the pressure of third grade retention laws as they try to minimize the number of students forced to repeat third grade.

Twenty-six states now either allow or require the retention of students not meeting the cutoff by the end of third grade, holding districts accountable for meeting grade-level standards.

While the research is mixed about whether or not these laws effectively boost foundational literacy, explicit and systematic interventions are well-understood to be the key to keeping children on track—and the best way to prepare them for future academic success. 

Real-time data reporting is often the missing link for districts nationwide. Gaining access to performance data well before third grade empowers district leaders to assign appropriate and timely interventions—helping more students stay on track through third grade and beyond.

“Literacy is a crucial life skill. Long-term studies have shown that student third grade reading proficiency is indicative not only of future academic success but career opportunities, wage earning, and overall well-being (Zakariya, 2015). 

The History of Third Grade Retention Laws in the U.S.

While a focus on retention is a long-standing practice in education, retention in literacy has become a hot topic in recent years.

In 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) was passed, giving weight to reading proficiency as a key educational goal, with a strong emphasis on standardized testing. The NCLBA inspired many state leaders to enact policies designed to improve literacy.

In 2002, one year after NCLBA, Florida became the first state to enact third grade retention laws, mandating students who scored below grade level in reading could not move on to fourth grade. This model was widely studied, generating interest across the country. By the 2010s, similar legislation was being enacted in many states—often in combination with science of reading-based legislation.

After a brief pause during the pandemic in 2020–2022, third grade retention laws are regaining momentum, with laws passed in more than half of U.S. states—and more considering such legislation.

Why Third Grade?

Early literacy is a key predictor of academic success—and third grade is widely viewed as the transition point when students move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” 

With 85% of public school curriculum being delivered via reading text, literacy is a cornerstone for success across all core classes. Students must read well to perform well.

When education leaders sought to standardize a process that would hold districts accountable to student success in literacy, they chose third grade as the pivotal moment.

But there was another, less strategic reason behind this chosen benchmark: Third grade is the year districts must begin annually assessing student data on reading—mandated by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. 

Before third grade, many districts don’t have access to “externally validated” student data. Without it, educators have no insight into which students need targeted interventions until it’s too late.

According to Jarrod Bolte, CEO of Improving Education, “We don’t have to wait for kids to fail. We can actually make sure that they’re hitting these targets earlier through this entire trajectory.”

Third Grade Retention Laws: State by State

During the past decade, the number of states requiring or allowing retention increased from 13 to 26, plus the District of Columbia.

While some states require retention of students who don’t make the cut-off, others provide exemptions, such as in the case where a student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a 504 plan, participates in summer school programs, or in special reading programs at school. Some states allow retention without requiring it, handling each student's situation individually.

Research into the efficacy of these laws has produced mixed results, sparking a growing debate. Critics point to research showing the downsides of retention, namely, that it can have negative psychological effects on children, increase dropout rates, and disproportionately impact low-income and minority students.

As four states consider rolling out third grade retention laws for the first time, Michigan has gone as far as enacting a retention law in 2016 and then, in 2024, repealing it. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer explained why she supported the repeal, “We are taking action to put power back into parents’ hands so they can work with their child’s teachers and make decisions that are best for their family.”

Just less than half of the United States has no third grade retention laws.

The following map shows the status of each state relative to third grade retention laws.

What’s the Difference Between Retention Laws That are ‘Required’ vs. ‘Allowed?’

In the 10 states that allow third grade retention laws, retention decisions are left to the discretion of a combination of local education authorities, school boards, or specific school committees—often with substantial input from parents and teachers. This approach emphasizes more collaborative decision-making that meets each student’s needs.

These state-specific approaches are designed to involve key stakeholders in the decision-making process. Here are a few examples:

• In Alaska and Washington, local education agencies (LEAs) set retention standards tailored to their student populations.
• In Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, and Nevada, parental involvement is key—retention decisions are made by school personnel in collaboration with parents and teachers.
• In Illinois, retention decisions are left up to local school boards.
• In New Jersey, New Mexico, and Texas, parental consent plays a crucial role. In New Jersey, parents can formally request retention after consulting with school counselors, the child study team, or an IEP team, with the superintendent having the final say if consensus isn’t reached.
• In Texas, parents can recommend retention with a committee decision in cases of disagreement.

Each state’s guidelines reflect a commitment to a nuanced, collaborative approach to decision-making, aiming to support students’ learning journeys while respecting family input.

The Uneven Impact of Early Literacy Legislation

The impact of these laws has garnered some positive results and also strong critiques.

Some critiques of the laws include:

• They stigmatize children and hurt their self-confidence.
• They may have positive effects in the short run, but these fade if not paired with significant academic interventions.
• Assessment could and should happen earlier. Kindergarten readiness assessments are already in place in about half of the country and measure skills that are highly predictive of third grade outcomes.
• They disproportionately affect students from marginalized backgrounds, including students of color, English Language Learners (ELLs), and those from low-income families.

According to cognitive neuroscientist Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, if students are dealing with neurological issues like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, or environmental factors like stress, lack of exposure to literacy at home, or overuse of screens, and these issues aren’t addressed in the repeated year, holding a student back is ineffective.

On the other hand, two states have had particularly positive outcomes after implementing third grade retention laws: Florida and Mississippi.

As the earliest state to enact this type of legislation, Florida has 22 years of experience with third grade retention laws in effect. Part of Florida’s success can be attributed to the state requirement to develop reading support plans for students who were held back. 

Umut Özek, a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, credited Florida’s success to interventions targeted to students’ academic needs, such as individualized literacy plans, assignments to high-performing teachers, at least 90 minutes of daily reading instruction, and the opportunity to attend summer reading camp.

Attaching third grade retention laws to science of reading-based legislation, Mississippi educators have also seen positive results for English Language Arts. Their amended law includes a more stringent testing requirement and additional interventions. 

Kymyona Burk, a senior policy fellow for early literacy at the Foundation for Excellence in Education, says: “Teachers received professional development on reading instructional practice—but also data analysis to help educators give students the tools they needed to interpret student test results and use that information to target areas of need.”

Above and beyond retention laws, most educational leaders agree preventative interventions based on valuable data are the key to achieving student proficiency.

How Real-Time Reporting Data Can Help at All Levels

Even if your state hasn’t enacted third grade retention laws, the impact of unfinished learning creates an urgency to think differently about tracking and assessing student progress. 

Administrative leaders are looking for ways to give educators the ongoing data-driven insights they need—while minimizing classroom disruption. Lexia’s Chief Learning Officer Liz Brooke shares the critical need to be proactive instead of reactive for students who need more literacy support: “For struggling students, accelerating skill development to reach grade-level expectations requires a very high level of instructional intensity….When you consider the significant time intensity required to help students close the gap, it is clear why effective prevention in early grades is essential,” she says.

Lexia® offers literacy intervention programs that take a Structured Literacy approach. This approach to learning applies the science of reading, which means students are receiving evidence-based instruction that provides them with explicit, systematic, cumulative, diagnostic, and responsive instruction during their reading lessons.

Lexia’s embedded assessments include the patented Assessment Without Testing® (AWT) in all of Lexia’s supplemental curriculum programs, which provides educators with actionable, real-time student progress data without interrupting the flow of instruction to administer a test. It’s unique because it provides the data needed to understand students’ current skill levels, and it also creates data-driven action plans to enable educators—regardless of their area of expertise—to deliver the right instruction.

4 Ways Lexia’s embedded assessment helps across all levels—for students, classroom educators, and administrators:

1. For students, Lexia curricula offer a personalized learning experience that meets them where they are and fuels the data that guides educators to provide the most supported experience. Our personalized learning model dynamically adapts instruction continuously for each student based on their unique strengths, needs, and challenges, creating more equitable, personalized learning for each student.
2. For teachers, AWT saves valuable instruction time and empowers educators. It reduces reliance on traditional testing, giving teachers more time to focus on instruction and personalized learning for students. Daily progress reports and action plans help determine who gets what support. Teachers can check these quickly and tailor their instruction to student needs. “I find Lexia® Core5® Reading provides me with very detailed progress-monitoring data identifying the literacy skills gained by my students. Core5 clearly defines these skills, making it easy for me to match them to our state standards and track which ones our students have met,” says Lindsay Wiseman, teacher/SPED, Fultondale Elementary, Alabama.
3. For school administrators, AWT allows tracking of real-time, schoolwide data so school administrators have a clear view of student progress and can assign interventions as needed to students who require them. Maya Tucci, school leader from KIPP Tech Valley Primary Charter School in Albany, New York, shares how this data has impacted her building: “It enables us to provide differentiated literacy instruction in small groups because students are so engaged independently, it reinforces fundamental literacy skills that we are teaching by giving students opportunities to apply these skills in a way that feels like a game to them, and it shows in the data,” she says.
4. For district administrators, AWT provides a districtwide view into student progress in literacy and insights about where additional resources and interventions are needed. It also helps administrators follow up at every level and inform predictors for end-of-year benchmarks with up-to-the-minute data.

Pre-K–6 Curriculum Programs That Offer Assessment Without Testing: Lexia Core5 Reading and Lexia English Language Development

If you’re looking for integrated assessment and personalized learning to close the literacy gap, look no further than Core5 and Lexia English Language Development™.

Core5 was developed with a mission to close the literacy gap. Built on the science of reading, it provides equitable learning opportunities for all students, promoting their success and well-being. Core5 follows an Adaptive Blended Learning model that offers explicit, systematic, and personalized reading instruction.

States with ELA standards-aligned reporting within the Core5 data dashboard: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington (Coming soon: Arkansas)

“Core5 equips teachers with predictors regarding students’ year-end performance and provides instructional alerts when a particular student requires additional assistance or support in a specific area.” -Jami Roberts, Director ELA/Social Studies/Library Programs, North Thurston Public Schools, Washington

Lexia English is an Adaptive Blended Learning program that supports Emergent Bilingual students’ English language acquisition through academic conversations. Lexia English is a state-of-the-art English language learning solution created to help Emergent Bilingual students reach their academic potential. It equips educators and administrators with simple, actionable data and reports to ensure academic success and better learning outcomes for all.

States and state requirements that have ELD standards-aligned reporting within the Lexia English data dashboard: California, New York, Texas, ELPA21, and WIDA

“I can see the results for an entire year with just one click,” Yadhira Rojas, teacher on special Assignment, Laguna Beach Unified School District, California, says of Lexia English.

Inspired to learn more about how Assessment Without Testing’s reporting can support elementary educators in targeted interventions? Visit Lexia by State to learn how Lexia partners with school districts in your state—and get in touch with your Lexia state representative.