Third Grade Guarantee

Overview of the requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Implications of the Third Grade Guarantee for Worthington City Schools BOARD POLICY PROCESS COMMUNICATION

“All students entering the third grade must demonstrate a certain level of competency in reading before advancing to the fourth grade. This level will start between ‘limited’ and ‘proficient,’ and will rise over time. Almost all of the provisions of the new law take effect in the school year.”

The Worthington City Schools must have Board Approved policy and procedures to ensure teachers annually administer a reading diagnostic assessment to assess reading skills of all students in kindergarten to third grade. The Third Grade Guarantee simply requires that these diagnostic assessments are administered each year by September 30 th. The BOE has or must have a policy on retention and promotion that details the retention criteria in and the new retention criteria for Procedures for immediately notifying parents of students who score “not on track” on the reading diagnostic assessment.

Procedures are in place to provide intensive reading remediation targeted at the student’s specific reading deficiencies immediately after identifying a student who needs a reading improvement and monitoring plan. Policy in place to have a reading improvement plan completed by the student’s teacher and parents within 60 days of identifying a student as “not on track.”

There must be a reading improvement and monitoring plan to include: Identification of specific reading deficiency Description of additional instructional services Opportunities for the parent to be involved in the instruction services A process to monitor reading progress Specialized, research based reading curriculum Statement that their child may be retained if they do not reach their required scores on the ELA assessment at the end of the third grade

Approved outside providers have been identified and placed on list for parents All students on reading improvement and monitoring plans have teachers with reading endorsements on their teaching licenses or have passed a rigorous test of reading principles designated by the state board of education Students retained by the third grade reading guarantee all receive at least 90 minutes of reading daily All students retained by the third grade guarantee have a “high performing teacher” as determined by their third grade reading guarantee, but still demonstrate proficiency in other areas.

Procedures to track and report the following data to ODE during the EMIS yearend collection on the implementation of the third grade reading guarantee are in place: Which students are “on track” and “not on track.” What types of intervention services are given to each student

In April of 2006, the Worthington Board of Education adopted a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction, the Strategic Balanced Literacy Framework. Diagnostic & Formative assessments are a critical component of this model. All students Kindergarten – 3 rd grade are assessed using one or more of the following diagnostic assessments: MPG: Measures of Adequate Progress for the Primary Grades KRA-L: Kindergarten Readiness Assessment-Literacy

The diagnostic assessments are in place and will be administered by September 30 th, Communication outreach to families will include: Notice of the 3 rd Grade Guarantee Parent Reading Partnership Letter & Plan Identifying Data Intervention Plan Progress Monitoring Plan Plan for collaboration between the RTI team & home

The allocation of reading intervention services may have to be adjusted based on demonstrated need. Teacher assignments may need to change to ensure that properly licensed (reading endorsement) and designations are available in 3 rd grade in all buildings: Professional Development for K-3 teachers: Leveled Literacy Reading Intervention Professional Development and Resources provided to each elementary Obtaining Reading Endorsement; Research support Tier I and Tier 2 Interventions; Strong implementation of the Balanced Literacy Framework. Expansion of summer school reading intervention program