As the school year moves forward, state legislators around the country are increasingly talking about holding students back. In Utah, the governor wants to retain third-grade students who are not reading on grade level. Legislators in Oklahoma are exploring retaining students as early as first grade. These states and others are looking to replicate the policies — and the success — of Mississippi, where retention played a role in fourth-grade reading achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress increasing from 49th in 2013 to seventh in 2024.
My own state, Arkansas, is preparing to implement a key piece of its 2024 Right to Read Act, which is modeled after legislation in Mississippi. This summer will be the first in Arkansas when third-graders will be retained if they are not reading proficiently. As expected, parents and educators are on edge and questions abound. The prospect of thousands of students being held back is generating lots of attention and anxiety.
But as Arkansas moves to implement its version of the Mississippi law and other states look to emulate it, policymakers would be wise to consider what the research says about retention. In short, like everything else in education, there is no panacea for increasing student learning. Retention in and of itself is not going to singlehandedly raise literacy rates. The key to success in Mississippi was the supports the state provided before and after students were retained…