Tennessee Education Board Urges Early Reading Intervention

The State Board of Education calls for a shift in reading retention policies to focus on K-3 students, aiming for foundational literacy support.

The State Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution urging Tennessee lawmakers to reconsider the state's reading and retention law, emphasizing earlier intervention for students in kindergarten through third grade.
Research indicates that early intervention in literacy is more effective, prompting the board to advocate for utilizing data from reading screeners to support students before third grade.
The current law, part of the Tennessee Literacy Success Act of 2021, mandates retention for third and fourth graders not meeting English language arts proficiency on standardized tests.
Last year, only 1.2% of third graders were retained, but projections suggest up to 6,000 fourth graders could be held back this year under the existing law.
Board members and educators argue that failing fourth graders is not the solution and call for a 'course correction' to focus on earlier grades.