Roughly 400 to 700 fourth graders within Metro Nashville Public Schools may face being held back for the second time in the span of a year under a Tennessee retention law.
Those numbers are based on a projected model from the Tennessee Board of Education. Under the state’s controversial third grade reading law , which took effect last year, only 64 third graders were retained at MNPS after falling short of a reading benchmark on the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program test.
Opting into yearlong tutoring was one of several options for qualified third graders who fell short. Under that provision, an additional 1,082 MNPS students moved on to fourth grade. But if those students do not show adequate growth, as defined by the state Department of Education, on the English language arts section of TCAP this spring, state law requires that they be held back from fifth grade.
Tina Stenson, who oversees the MNPS Department of Research, Assessment and Evaluation, outlined the numbers for the “best-case” and “worst-case” scenarios for fourth grade retention during an MNPS Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday.