SC to "Hold Back" Worst Non-Readers in Third Grade

Everything-old-is-new-again department

A few of us are old enough to remember when students who failed to thrive in one grade were forced to repeat it. Was that fifty years ago? 

Our state legislature has addressed the problem of high school freshmen reading on the fourth-grade level or below with the "new" idea that "Starting in the 2017-18 school year under the Read to Succeed Act, third-graders can be held back if they score below a certain threshold on the reading portion of the state-administered standardized test." Such decisions were once the bailiwick of teachers and principals.

But enough of that.

Five percent of all third graders met the criteria for retention. Of those, some possibly will advance based on performance in a summer program or fulfilling "certain exemptions."

Let's argue that only three percent actually repeat the grade. That three percent will not be evenly distributed throughout the state or even a particular school system. What will happen in the Charleston County School District's most failing elementary schools when the percentage approaches a quarter of the class?

CCSD's response will be interesting.