Third Grade Remediation

The Tennessee General Assembly passed a key piece of legislation during the 112th General Assembly - the Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act - to help ensure students could recover from the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and close gaps in students' learning. As part of this legislation, the General Assembly updated the state's third grade retention law, T.C.A. 49-6-3115, to ensure students receive additional supports before promotion to fourth grade.

What does this mean for my child?

Based on this law, third grade students who do not show proficiency (those who score Approaching Expectations or Below Expectations) on the English Language Arts (ELA) section of the Tennessee Comprehensive Program (TCAP) assessment, may not be promoted to fourth grade.

Assessment Calendar

If my third grader does not show proficiency on TCAP, what are our options?

Just because a student has been determined not to be proficient in reading does not mean that student may not be promoted to the next grade level. T.C.A. 49-6-3115 provides that if certain conditions are met, a student may still be promoted. These conditions are meant to provide an additional opportunity for the student to demonstrate proficiency in reading or provide the additional resources and interventions necessary to improve the student’s reading proficiency.

So, what are the additional opportunities for a student who scores Approaching Expectations or Below Expectations to demonstrate proficiency?

Students will be provided with multiple opportunities for intervention such as:

Retesting of the ELA portion of the TCAP before the beginning of the next school year
Summer Learning Camp (with required attendance rates)
High-dosage, low-ratio tutoring

Are there any exemptions to this new law?

Yes. Third grade students scoring Approaching Expectations or Below Expectations on the ELA portion of the TCAP and identified for retention may be promoted if one of the exemptions below applies:

The student is an English Learner and has received less than two years of ELA instruction.
The student has a disability or suspected disability that impacts reading.
The student was previously retained prior to their current third grade year.

What kind of communications can I expect about my child's progress?

Each elementary school is sharing information with parents and guardians after completion of reading benchmark assessments and as part of regular progress reporting. This communication will come home with third graders in the form of a letter attached to benchmark results and report cards. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you want further information about your student's progress.

Also, all third grade parent/guardians are invited to attend an informational meeting about Tennessee's third grade retention law at 6:00 PM on Thursday, December 8, 2022, at Harris Middle School where the new law will be reviewed by district leadership to help ensure parents are informed about what this law could mean for your student.

What can I do to help my child be successful?

Ensure your child attends school daily. It is more important than ever before!
Ensure you child takes seriously all local and state-mandated assessments when administered.
Participate in tutoring programs through your school, if needed, for improved performance on assessments. Your child's teacher or principal can assist you with what is available.
Read with your child for twenty minutes daily because practicing reading and modeling reading is very important.
You can order decodables to practice the fluency lessons your child learned in second grade here.