BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — About 4,700 of last year’s Alabama third graders were at risk of being held back this year under the state’s 2019 literacy law, but exactly how many are repeating the grade won’t be known until October, State Superintendent Eric Mackey said recently.
That number is down from the 6,500 that didn’t pass spring testing, but were able to retest later.
Mackey earlier this month told state board of education members that if last year’s numbers are any indication, the number of students actually repeating third grad will end up being much smaller.
“I made comments publicly last year (that) I was a little concerned about how low the number actually was once the (individual education plans) were done and once the portfolio assessments were done, and those special exemptions that are in the law, we ended up with only less than 1% that actually repeated (third grade),” he said.
The Alabama Literacy Act specifically applies to kindergarten through third grade, and requires third graders to pass a reading test showing they are reading “sufficiently,” which is slightly below grade level, but well enough to move on to the fourth grade. Students who do not reach the benchmark score on the spring test are invited to attend a summer reading camp each school district is required to hold.
Summer reading camps, which typically last two weeks, must include 60 hours of reading instruction, but attendance is voluntary. Many schools offer transportation and enrichment activities as part of the camp to encourage attendance.
Attendance numbers for this past summer are not yet available, but in recent years low turnout has been a concern. Not attending can make the difference in a third grader being promoted or not.
Mackey said 2,400, or 38%, of students who didn’t reach the benchmark score on the spring reading test did not take the test a second time. That is the same percentage of students as in 2024.
“Where did these 2,400 students go who did not test,” Mackey asked. “One, they could have gone to summer camp and just opted not to take the tests or parents opted not to test and just keep them in third grade.
“Some of those students are probably more severe special needs and so their IEP team met and they’re already working on that – they may retain them or promote them with supports, but they decided that summer reading camp was not the best for that person.
“Some of them are just parents who decided, ‘I don’t want my kid to go to summer reading camp.’”
And so some of them were probably retained, he said.
Mackey said he doesn’t want to unnecessarily retain children, but schools must provide extra help for students who move on without strong reading skills. Fourth grade introduces more content-heavy materials, such as textbooks, that require steady reading ability.
“We know they are going to fourth grade not able to read on a third-grade level,” he said. “So that school better have a lot of supports around that child or they’re going to be behind in fourth grade and they’re going to get further and further and further behind.”
Board member Tracie West, R-Auburn, raised another issue: students “on the bubble” who met the cut score on the test, 444, but not the target score that shows they’re reading on grade level, 473.
“So they’re going into fourth grade, barely passing,” West said. “What kind of work are we doing with them?”
Mackey explained that beginning with the 2025 test results, parents of students scoring between 444 and 473 receive letters explaining their child barely made it. Teachers are also flagged so they can provide extra support.
Alabama Reading Initiative Director Bonnie Short told board members that students with reading deficiencies continue to be evaluated and supported even after being promoted to the fourth grade. “They have that student reading improvement plan until a student no longer has a deficiency,” Short said.
The state continues to provide additional funding to help struggling readers beyond third grade. Schools can apply for grants to fund additional initiatives like tutoring programs, and the state funds screening tests for fourth and fifth graders.
Schools with the greatest needs, as determined by the department of education, are getting additional support like reading interventionists for fourth graders.
“The money for those reading interventionists and the money for struggling graders beyond grade three is distributed not equally across the state but according to need based on these results,” Mackey said.
Districts are still finalizing their data, and the state board is expected to get a complete report on retention in October.
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