Third Grade Reading Guarantee
Third Grade Reading Guarantee
State law requires the State Board of Education to annually increase the promotion score on Ohio’s State Test for grade 3 English language arts until it reaches proficient for the 2024-2025 school year. Accordingly, the State Board voted to raise the promotion score for grade 3 English language arts to 690 for the 2023-2024 school year. Any student who scores 690 or higher on the English language arts scaled score will be eligible for promotion to fourth grade at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
In addition, the Ohio Department of Education has set the reading subscore alternative assessment score for Ohio’s State Test for grade 3 English language arts test at 48 for the 2022-2023 school year. Any student who scores 48 or higher on the reading subscore will be eligible for promotion to fourth grade at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, even if the student scores below 690 on Ohio’s State Test for grade 3 English language arts.
Parent Request Exemption
Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, a student’s parent or guardian, in consultation with the student’s reading teacher and principal, may request that a student be promoted to fourth grade regardless of the student’s score on Ohio’s State Test for grade 3 English language arts.
Students promoted to fourth grade through this exemption must continue to receive intensive reading instruction until the student is able to read at grade level.
Parent Notification Requirements
Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, districts must include the following information in the written communication to parents of students in grades K-3 who are not reading on grade level according to the reading diagnostic:
A statement that connects the child’s proficiency level in reading to long-term outcomes of success related to proficiency in reading.