More than 85% of the Tennessee third graders who challenged being held back under the state’s retention law have been given the approval to move on to the fourth grade.
Tens of thousands of third-graders across the state were in danger of having to repeat their grade for not passing the English language arts portion of their standardized tests. A new state law implemented this year requires students who do not meet the state’s standards in language arts to attend a summer program and/or participate in a full school year of tutoring to be promoted. There are some exceptions, like for students with disabilities or certain English language learners.
Initially, some 40,000 students — or, 60% of the state’s third graders — were at risk of not moving on. Before they were held back, students were allowed to re-test — which 25,000 students opted to do.
Students who scored “approaching” proficiency were eligible to appeal if they scored in the 40th percentile or higher on a previous reading screener. Students in the “approaching” category also qualified for appeals if they experienced a catastrophic event before TCAP, like a death in their close family.
Around 9,000 students had appeal forms submitted on their behalf. 7,812 — or 86% — of these appeals were granted.
More than 550 of the appeals were deemed ineligible. Another 685 students were denied their request. Some of those student may have participated in summer camp as a back up plan. Otherwise they’ll need to enroll in tutoring throughout their fourth grade year, or risk repeating the third grade.
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