The Michigan Legislature has approved an early literacy bill that requires that third-graders be held back if they lag in reading, unless they qualify for an exemption.
Advertisement
Members of the state House and Senate voted today to pass the long-stalled, controversial legislation one day after a committee of lawmakers reached a compromise on its language.
The bill passed in the Republican House and Senate, mostly along party lines. Democrats were largely opposed.
An earlier version of the legislation would have also allowed a teacher or principal to request an exemption, but that option was eliminated under a compromise version of the bill that advanced out of committee earlier this week. Less than half of third graders were found to be proficient in English language arts on the M-STEP state assessment last spring.
The bill leaves it to the state Department of Education to determine when a reading score indicates that students are more than one grade level behind, meaning it’s unclear how many more students could be retained, especially given that school officials would have flexibility to decide when to hold a student back.
Rep. Amanda Price, R-Holland, has spearheaded the legislation.
“We all know how important the measure is, so let’s keep working and get this done”, said McConnell on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.
The change disappointed Paul Liabenow of the Michigan Elementary and Middle School Principals Association, who said it may disadvantage homeless students or those who may not live with their parents for various reasons.
“Our concern continues to be that our most needy students, our most impoverished students, will not have equal access to a good cause exemption”, he said, “but we hope to find ways to level the playing field for all students when we believe they should be promoted to fourth grade”.
Some House Republicans have said they should move first instead of waiting for a deal from the Senate that they believe could force them to accept unwanted measures in order to pass it by the September 30 deadline.
The legislation calls for multiple literacy screenings leading up to third grade and intervention programs for school personnel to help individual students. Parents would be given a “read at home” plan, and schools would be encouraged to offer summer reading camps. “Literacy coaches” would model appropriate instruction and training for teachers. When they reach third grade, they will have to show they are less than a grade level behind in proficiency.
Advertisement
It’s the previous year students learn to read before transitioning to reading to learn.
