The state’s controversial third-grade retention law went into effect this past spring, despite key aspects of the law being undefined by the end of the school year and changes ready for implementation for the 2023-24 school year. TEA vigorously opposes the law, believing that decisions as significant as retaining a student must be made in close consultation with the student’s educators and should never be made based solely on the results of high- stakes standardized tests.
The State Board of Education finalized revisions to its third-grade retention policy in a May meeting, paving the way for final retention decisions to be made prior to the start of the new school year. They also received a presentation from the Department of Education outlining how a key component of the law functions for families who send their child to summer school to avoid being retained based on the results of the third grade ELA TCAP.
Students must demonstrate adequate growth, in addition to maintaining a 90% attendance rate during summer school, to be promoted to fourth grade.
The Department of Education is defining adequate growth as at least 5 percentage points between the spring assessment of the test or the retake, if the student took it, whichever is higher, and the test at the conclusion of summer school.
The test is scored on the same day, while the department states it will release adequate growth determinations within five business days of the end of summer school. Students who meet adequate growth who scored “approaching” on the baseline test will be promoted to fourth grade without any other action while students who scored “below” on it will still require a tutor to be assigned for the entirety of the upcoming school year to avoid retention.
“The fact that decisions are being made about implementing this law during the summer further demonstrates how rushed and wrongheaded this law is,” said TEA President Tanya Coats.
As of this writing there has not been any data released on the total number of students being retained for the 23-24 school year. The department provided limited data on appeals prior to the window closing that showed 82% of the over 8,200 appeals filed by parents were approved. Statewide, about 60% of third-graders scored below proficient in the spring TCAP administration, meaning action was needed to avoid being retained.
Starting this school year, students in the “approaching” category will avoid retention if they score in the 50th percentile in the last benchmark assessment. Also, teachers and administrators may file appeals on behalf of students with a parent or guardian’s written consent.
