Unpacking Tennessee’s third grade retention law

More than 60% of Tennessee third graders could be at risk of being held back this year.

That’s because, under a state law that passed in 2021, students who score less than proficient on the English language arts portion of the state’s big standardized test may not advance to fourth grade. In previous years, only a little over one third of Tennessee’s third graders scored “proficient” or above on the TCAP.

But the law does include exceptions for certain students, and interventions that can help kids get caught up while allowing them to move on to the fourth grade.

In this episode, we dig into how the law works and what students stand to be most impacted. We hear from a policy expert and local education official, as well as a teacher and parents about how this law will impact students. 

But first, we check in with Executive Producer Andrea Tudhope for our weekly @Us! segment. We go over listeners’ comments and questions from the last week. And we reveal the results of a listener poll deciding our host Khalil Ekulona’s roller derby name.

Guests:

• Breanna Sommers, policy analyst at the Education Trust in Tennessee
• Abigail Tylor, Metro Nashville Public Schools board member
• Lucy Kells, third grade parent and organizer
• Sonya Thomas, Executive Director of Nashville PROPEL
• Courtney Dial, third grade teacher for English language learners