Reading Tests
School has barely begun, but many of our youngest students are getting ready for a test that most educators think is dangerous and disastrous. Under the Third Grade Reading statute, children must pass a series of tests and establish a “proficient” reading score, or face being held back from fourth grade. The first of three mandated tests outlined in this process by law must be given within the first 30 days of school.
Virtually all educators agree this is misguided meddling by State legislators that will damage children. Over the last two decades of Republican-dominated legislatures, Michigan has been steadily sinking in relation to other states. In 2017 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that Michigan was tied with Tennessee for 35th in the nation on fourth-grade reading scores.
Since the passage of the law in 2016 many districts have been targeting reading and providing additional training and support for teachers and students. The result has been “modest gains.” The 2019 M-STEP results reported the number of not proficient students going from 31% in 2018 to 30.4% in 2019. According to analyses of national testing data, Michigan students are performing among the bottom 10% of states. According to 2017 results from National Assessment of Educational Progress, Michigan ranks in the bottom third of states for fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math. It's also 43rd in school funding equity.
It is not likely that the complicated process of learning to read will see a quick improvement as children are subjected to a series of tests. Nationally, state-mandated efforts to punish children who are not learning to read by third grade have been a failure. Four years before Michigan passed this legislation, North Carolina tried it in 2012. After spending $150 million researchers from North Carolina State University concluded that the state was “going backward” and “treading water.” Nearly two decades ago Florida tried the “read or flunk policy, and while it produced initial gains, they faded quickly. It, too, was a failure.
On the eve of this policy taking effect current data indicates nearly 55% of third-grade students failed the predictive test with only a slight improvement in scores statewide. According to 2019 results of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress released this month by the Michigan Department of Education, 54.9% of third graders — or 55,336 students — scored less than proficient on the English language arts test. That's a modest improvement compared with 55.6% last year.
The Michigan Department of Education is downplaying these results, saying that they estimate only 5% of third grades students will be held back. There is little reason to believe this number.
There is every reason to believe the majority of students held back will be in our urban areas. In Benton Harbor only 5.6% of students passed a similar test last year.
Community groups like the Detroit Independent Freedom Schools Movement are advocating for the repeal of mandatory retention. Educators and state officials are beginning to join the effort. But in the meantime, parents should be aware that they have a right to intervene in this process. They can ask the superintendent for an “exemption” for their child. The law provides:
Coordinators for a student with an individual education plan or a disability can request an exemption for the student.
An English language learner with less than three years of instruction in English may be granted an exemption.
A student may be eligible for an exemption if he or she has received intensive reading intervention for two years and was previously retained.
A student who has been in the school district for less than two years may be exempted.
A parent can request an exemption within 30 days of being notified of possible retention.
Parents, teachers or school personnel may request a good cause exemption, and superintendents have the final say.
Our children have been consistently abused by decisions made by the Republican dominated legislature and its meddling in education. We know that love and individual attention create learning. As a community, we can provide these, no matter what the state continues to do. That is the ultimate test of our commitment.