COLUMBUS, Ohio – Students in the Bexley and Grandview Heights school districts scored highest among central Ohio third-graders in the most recent reading assessment tests with nearly 99 percent of them scoring high enough to advance to the fourth grade.
See Central Ohio district scores here
Statewide results here
The percentage of third-grade students in the Columbus City Schools who met the criterion was the lowest in the region at 69.2 percent.
The requirement that students pass the test in order to be promoted was included in a 2012 law intended to prevent them from moving ahead without the skills necessary for success.
“In kindergarten through third grade, you’re learning to read; from fourth grade on, you’re reading to learn. And if you’re on grade level or above at the end of third grade, then you can control your own destiny as you move forward – you can control your educational destiny, and you can control your career beyond that, as well,” Ohio Department of Education spokesman John Charlton said.
Some parents and others have voiced concerns over the impact of holding a child back a grade, but Charlton says the reading standard helps districts identify students who are struggling with reading so teachers can bring the child up to speed by the end of third grade.
More than 110,000 third graders statewide – or 88 percent – met the requirement in most recent round of testing, an increase of more than 25,000 students from the 63.1 percent who passed during the first round in the fall of 2013, Charlton said.
“These preliminary results show that most Ohio students have mastered the reading skills they need to be successful, but more needs to be done,” state superintendent Richard Ross said.
Students who fail to pass will have two more opportunities to earn a high enough score to move on: The summer administration of the OAA or one of three approved alternative tests.
Students can take fourth-grade classes in subjects other than reading if they fail to meet the criterion and schools must provide a high-performing reading teacher and 90 minutes of reading instruction each school day. Schools can promote students in the middle of the year if the student’s reading improves, Charlton said.
Some students are exempt from being kept back a grade, including those for whom English is a second language, some special education students, and any student who has intensive remediation for two years and was previously retained in Kindergarten through third grade.