Lawmaker who sponsored Alabama’s 3rd-grade reading law seeks 1-year delay - AL.com

The lawmaker who sponsored the Alabama Literacy Act, which focuses attention and resources on improving reading instruction in the earliest grades, has filed a bill to delay a key part of the law by one year.

The Legislature passed the Literacy Act in 2019 as part of an effort to improve reading for Alabama students, who rank low on national tests.

A key provision of the law is that third graders must show they are reading on grade level to be promoted to fourth grade. The idea is that it is essential for students to read well by third grade to succeed academically in later grades. The retention requirement will apply for the first time to this year’s class of third graders.

Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, introduced a bill Wednesday that would delay that to the 2022-23 school year. Collins, chair of the House Education Policy Committee, sponsored the Literacy Act. Thirty-one lawmakers are listed as co-sponsors for Collins’ bill.

Since last year, legislators have debated whether to delay the third-grade retention requirement because of disruptions to school caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers passed a bill last year to delay the requirement by two years. Gov. Kay Ivey vetoed it, saying it was too soon to commit to a delay.

But last November, Ivey determined a delay was needed and said she would urge lawmakers to approve it. The governor said policymakers needed more data, particularly from upcoming test scores.

State Superintendent Eric Mackey has said some schools would have more more than half of their third-grade students at risk of retention.

The Literacy Act, passed in 2019, requires students not reading on grade level to be given additional support services, including summer reading camps and expert instruction, and for parents to be a part of the process to improve students’ reading skills.

Teachers are required to teach reading to kindergarten through third grade students using techniques backed by a body of modern research known as the science of reading.

source: https://www.al.com/news/2022/02/lawmaker-who-sponsored-alabamas-3rd-grade-reading-law-seeks-1-year-delay.html

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