Some of you were unable to attend the Read to
Achieve meeting on January 16th to obtain information about how this
legislation affects your third grader. Here is a very brief run down:
Starting January 27th, every third grader will complete 3 reading passages on
the same standard. The following week, they will take 3 on a different
standard, and so on. These passages are about a page and a half long and
have 5 questions on each. They will be graded and kept in a portfolio for
your child. Four out of five questions correct is passing. If they
do not pass all 3 passages for a certain standard, they will have a chance to
take another passage. This will go on throughout the school year.
By the end, we hope to have built a portfolio that shows your child has
mastered each of the 12 standards. This will be very important because if
they do not pass the English-Language Arts EOG test at the end of the year, the
portfolio will provide the necessary information to show that they are
proficient; what they call a "good cause exemption." All third
graders will have a portfolio, regardless of their level of proficiency in the
classroom.
If they do not have a "good cause exemption" based on their
portfolio, they will take the Read to Achieve test at the end of the year,
after the EOGs.
If they do not have a proficient portfolio and they do not pass the EOG or the
Read to Achieve Test, they will have to go to a Summer Reading program and will
continue to work on their portfolio. If they do not attend the Reading
program, they will be retained in third grade. At the end of the Summer Reading
Program, they will get another opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test.
If they demonstrate proficiency either by
portfolio or by the test score, then they move on to 4th grade. If not,
they begin the school year in a 3rd/4th Transition Class and will receive
interventions next year to support them in literacy. Midway through their
"third/fourth grade" transitional year, they will have another
opportunity to take the Read to Achieve test or pass by good cause exemption
through their portfolio, which they will be
continuing to build. If they pass, they
would be a traditional 4th grader at that point. If not, they will
continue to receive intensive literacy instruction in the transitional
classroom.
For more detailed information about this legislation, please read the following
document: https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/Meetings/Attachment.aspx?S=10399&AID=12267&MID=804
