Last year, just 33% of fourth graders scored proficient or above in Reading, down from 35% in 2019.

Meanwhile, this is a pivotal skill, important for students to be able to study subjects such as Math, Science, Social Studies... in the following years. Research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation also shows that third graders who lack reading comprehension skills are four times more likely to drop out of school.

To address this, Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina and many other states have relied on assessment results to require students to stay in third grade. States such as Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama and Nevada have also issued similar regulations and will take effect in the coming years.

However, this idea is not supported by parents and schools. They say that it is impossible to rely on a single test to assess whether students can continue studying with their friends.

"I understand they want to address the gap in student learning, but this is the wrong approach. There's nothing fair about it," said Katherine Bike, a member of the Knox County School Board in Tennessee.

Representatives of Nashville Public Schools in this state expressed similar opinions. They said that the decision to hold students back a grade should be agreed upon between parents and schools, based on the learning needs of the students.

Creed Hasse, a student in suburban Nashville, was among those who received free tutoring after scoring below proficiency on the third-grade reading test. His mother, Jacqlyn Hasse, worried about the social pressure Creed would feel because he was a year older than his classmates. If he were to repeat a grade, he might drop out of school.

On the contrary, politicians and education officials say that requiring students to repeat a grade if they fail is to motivate them to study better.

Retention laws are often accompanied by policies that provide free tutoring and tutoring. Students who fail the reading test must enroll in summer school or accelerated classes if they want to move up a grade. As a result, very few students fail. This year, for example, in Nashville, 70% of students failed reading, but only 1.4% of them were held back. In Memphis, also in Tennessee, the numbers were 76% and 1%.

Mississippi, which introduced a literacy policy in 2013, is a model of success. It retains about 4-10% of its more than 400,000 third graders due to low reading scores and other reasons. These students receive special support.

This year, Boston University compared the academic performance of students who barely passed the fourth grade with those who failed in Mississippi. The results showed that by sixth grade, the group that failed had significantly improved their scores in English, outperforming the other group.

“We want parents to see repeating a class as an opportunity, not a threat,” said Bob Nardo, CEO of Libertas School in Tennessee, where 10 of its 50 third-graders are repeating a class.

Still, some states, like Ohio, are considering repealing the policy, which was implemented in 2012. Some studies have shown that retention has short-term benefits that diminish over time. Students who are retained may be more likely to be bullied or become bullies.

Phuong Anh (According to World Street Journal )