House Bill 33 of the 135th General Assembly included several legislative changes to the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Most immediately, the changes effect the promotion of students who were in grade 3 in the 2022-2023 school year. The State Board of Education and the Department also have set the 2023-2024 Third Grade Reading Guarantee promotion scores.
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 at 48 for the 2023-2024 school year. Any student who scores 48 or higher on the reading sub-score 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.
Finally, the new legislation created measures that will take effect in the 2023-2024 school year related to:
- parental exemption requests;
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;
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.
- reading improvement and monitoring plans (RIMP) requirements; The following are additional requirements for reading improvement and monitoring plan (RIMPs) beginning in the 2023-2024 school year:
- High-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student’s classroom instruction through either a state-approved vendor or locally approved opportunity that aligns with high-dosage tutoring best practices. Tutoring starts in the 2023-2024 school year for all K-4 students with RIMPs. High-dosage tutoring must include additional instruction time either:
- Three days per week, or
- At least 50 hours over 36 weeks.
- Intervention services must be aligned to the science of reading.
- Districts and schools must continue to provide the RIMP until the student is reading proficiently at their current grade level.
- High-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student’s classroom instruction through either a state-approved vendor or locally approved opportunity that aligns with high-dosage tutoring best practices. Tutoring starts in the 2023-2024 school year for all K-4 students with RIMPs. High-dosage tutoring must include additional instruction time either:
- reading intervention requirements for EdChoice and Cleveland scholarship recipients; Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, chartered nonpublic schools must provide the following for EdChoice Scholarship students and Cleveland Scholarship students not reading proficiently but promoted to fourth grade:
- High-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student’s classroom instruction through either a state-approved vendor or locally approved opportunity that aligns with high-dosage tutoring best practices. High-dosage tutoring must include additional instruction time either:
- Three days per week, or
- At least 50 hours over 36 weeks.
- Intervention services aligned to the science of reading.
- Schools must continue to provide intervention services until the student is reading proficiently at their current grade level.
- High-dosage tutoring opportunities aligned with the student’s classroom instruction through either a state-approved vendor or locally approved opportunity that aligns with high-dosage tutoring best practices. High-dosage tutoring must include additional instruction time either:
Find complete details about these updates on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee webpage. Direct questions to ThirdGradeGuarantee@education.ohio.gov.