Starting this school year (2017-2018), all schools in the Palmetto State are required to hold back third graders who do not prove their reading abilities during standardized testing.
According to the SC Department of Education, students should be able to read on their own and understand a variety of text at the end of third grade. That means they can read and understand words, sentences, and paragraphs without help. The standard is for third graders to be self-directed critical thinkers and readers.
Some students can qualify for exemptions; others can move on with the help of a Summer Reading Camp where kids will work on comprehension and will then be reassessed.
There is a reading assessment that we will give at the end of the Summer Reading Camp that will determine whether or not they’ve reached a reading proficiency level strong enough that they can then be promoted to fourth grade.
Read to Succeed legislation provides seven considerations for students who may be exempt from mandatory retention and promoted to fourth grade. Good cause exemptions include students:
• with limited English proficiency and less than two years of instruction in English as a Second Language (EL) program;
• with disabilities whose Individual Education Plan (IEP) indicates the use of alternative assessments or alternative reading interventions;
• with disabilities whose IEP or Section 504 Plan reflects that the student has received intensive remediation in reading for more than two years but still does not substantially demonstrate reading proficiency;
• who demonstrate third-grade reading proficiency on an alternative assessment approved by the SBE and which teachers may administer following the administration of the state assessment of reading;
• who have received two years of reading intervention and were previously retained;
• who through reading portfolio documentation demonstrate mastery of the state standards in reading equal to at least one level above the lowest achievement level on the state reading assessment; or
• who successfully participate in a Read to Succeed Summer Reading Camp at the conclusion of the third-grade year and demonstrate through either a reading portfolio or through a norm-referenced alternative assessment, that their mastery of the state standards in reading is equal to at least one level above the lowest level on the state reading assessment.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact your school’s principal.
You can also find information about Read to Succeed on the SC Department of Education website: https://ed.sc.gov instruction/ early-learning-and-literacy/ read-to-succeed1/