Alabama’s Literacy Challenge: 1,800 Third Graders to Repeat the Year Due to Reading Struggles

Around 1,800 Alabama third graders will have to repeat the grade after failing to meet the necessary reading skills to advance to fourth grade, according to state superintendent Eric Mackey. This development underscores Alabama’s commitment to a rigorous literacy law that has been in the works for years. The law mandates that if students aren't reading proficiently by the end of third grade, they must be retained.

Mackey emphasized to state school board members the importance of early intervention when deciding to retain a student. "The later students are retained, the worse the social outcome," Mackey stated. "That’s why third grade isn’t considered the beginning. It’s kind of the last effort."

The results from spring testing indicated that 4,800 third graders in Alabama did not meet the reading proficiency benchmark necessary to move forward. However, these students were provided with an opportunity to attend summer camps, improve their reading skills, and retest.

Over 3,000 of those students retook the test during the summer, and 1,337 successfully met the required benchmark. As a result, about 1,800 students are now expected to repeat the third grade, with final numbers to be confirmed in September.

Retention due to reading deficiencies isn’t limited to third graders. The state has also identified students in lower grades who are struggling with reading skills:

• Kindergarten: 3,448 students
• First grade: 3,760 students
• Second grade: 2,154 students

However, not every third grader who faces challenges with reading will be held back. District officials anticipate that at least 1,000 third graders will be promoted under the “good cause” exemption, though these numbers are still being finalized.

Preliminary data from districts show that the following groups of students are likely to receive good cause exemptions:

• 59 students with significant disabilities who take an alternate assessment.
• 149 English learners.
• 431 students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) who have previously been retained and now have an intensive reading plan.
• 41 students who have been retained previously but do not have IEPs.
• 124 students who demonstrated grade-level reading skills through portfolios of their work.

For those students who are promoted under the good cause exemption, the law ensures they will continue receiving targeted support, including “intensive reading intervention” as outlined in their reading improvement plan until their reading deficiency is resolved.

Students who are retained will receive an intensive level of support, including increased attention from teachers and additional reading time each day. Additionally, the state is enhancing support for students and teachers in upper elementary grades who continue to need assistance with reading skills.

Experts highlight third grade as a pivotal year for reading development. It's the point where children transition from learning to read—mastering the basics of word recognition and sentence structure—to reading to learn, which involves using those foundational skills to acquire knowledge across various subjects. If a child isn't reading at grade level by the end of third grade, they are likely to face ongoing difficulties in absorbing subject content from fourth grade onward, potentially falling further behind in their education.

Looking ahead, Mackey mentioned that the board may reconsider the benchmark score used to assess reading proficiency in October.