The Louisiana House approves a bill that would keep third graders from advancing to the fourth grade if they do not perform well on a literacy test. Mandeville Representative Richard Nelson says his legislation is modeled after a similar law in Mississippi, which has helped boost reading proficiency.
“They actually started the bar really low and held a higher number of kids back, and each year subsequent to that they’ve raised the bar and held fewer kids back, so it’s really a system that’s proven to be really effective in improving things in Mississippi,” said Nelson.
Mississippi’s literacy rate for fourth graders has gone from 49th in the country to 29th.
Houma Representative Beryl Amedee says multiple efforts will be made to improve a third grader’s reading ability before it’s determined the student must repeat.
“In the body of the bill, it actually specifies some of the extra help some of these students will be receiving,” said Amedee.
Nelson says this legislation will help more than just students who struggle with reading.
“If you look at some of the studies that studied this kind of accountability system, the improvements are not just in the kids that get held back, but essentially the whole system, every kid. every grade level actually ends up achieving more because of this.
The bill passed on an 83-12 vote and heads to the Senate for more discussion.
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