LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan Senate has made progress in advancing legislation that would repeal an amendment to the Read By Grade Three law which among other things would remove the retention requirement for non-grade level reading proficient students. 

On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee voted 5-1 to advance Senate Bill 12 containing an amendment to remove retaining students from advancing if reading scores on the M-STEP  ELA test were not above a 1252.  

MORE NEWS: A New Day: Michigan House Republicans Select New Leader

Earlier on Jan. 31, the House Education Committee heard comments and recommendations from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Michael F. Rice, and Michigan State University Professor and Director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) Katharine Strunk offered findings from EPIC regarding the bill and their research about the effectiveness of retention based on data mostly from states outside of Michigan.  

“There is nothing more important to literacy achievement than an extra year of education in that 0 to 5 year period of time, it is enormously supported in research,” Rice said during the committee meeting, “Supporting the Governor’s call to have all four year old children having access to at least a year of high quality preschool, it’s not just supported relative to educational outcomes, but also life outcomes.” 

A summary of the bill reported from the committee provided several key takeaways: 

• –  Delete provisions prohibiting the promotion of a pupil to grade 4 unless the pupil demonstrated a satisfactory reading score, or otherwise demonstrated a grade 3 reading level.
• –  Delete provisions prohibiting a school district superintendent or public school academy (PSA) chief administrator from allowing a child under 10 years old to enroll in grade 4 unless he or she demonstrated a satisfactory reading score, or otherwise demonstrated a grade 3 reading level.
• –   Modify a requirement that a school district or PSA provide a reading intervention program that was intended to correct a pupil’s specific reading deficiency to certain specified pupils.
• –  Delete provisions specifying reasons and procedures for granting a good cause exemption from the grade 3 promotion and retention requirements.
• –  Delete a provision requiring a school district or PSA to submit a retention report to the Center for Educational Performance and Information.

The bill, sponsored by Senator Dayna Pokehanki (D) Livonia, also provided the following rationale for the amendments: 

“Public Act 306 of 2016 (also known as the “Read by Grade Three” law) generally requires the retention of a grade 3 pupil if the pupil is one or more years behind grade level in reading proficiency unless a good cause exemption is granted,” The Committee Report said, “Some people believe that the mandatory retention requirement unnecessarily punishes students based on their performance on a one-time test, which can have a long-term negative impact on the students if they are retained. Accordingly, it has been suggested that the mandatory retention requirement be removed.”

Some Republicans, like Minority Vice Chair and Representative Jaime Greene (R) Richmond at the House Education Committee questioned what would happen if retention would be removed. 

MORE NEWS: Schoolcraft Native Simkins Earns Third MAC Defensive Player of the Week Award for WMU

“If we are not going to retain them, then what are we going to do?,” Rep. Greene said, “we gotta do something.” 

Strunk admitted that the statistics for positive effects of retention in Michigan on long term achievement  are not yet available, other state statistics show that retention isn’t as helpful as one on one instruction with a qualified educator, and more time in the classroom.