The state is getting more aggressive with its third-grade reading requirements, reports Trisha Powell Crain of the Alabama Daily News.
The state Board of Education has voted to raise the score requirement for third-graders on the state reading test. If they score below the required score, they risk being held back a year.
Until now the cutoff has been 435. Under the plan, the cutoff would rise to 444 for this academic year and the next. Then it would rise to 454 for the 2026-27 school year.
Note that making a score of 473 or above is considered reading on grade level. The Alabama Literacy Act of 2019 requires third graders read on grade level to move on to fourth grade, but there are a few other ways for students to demonstrate their proficiency should they not reach the cut score.
This past spring, 91% of third graders scored 435 or higher on the test. That persuaded State Superintendent Eric Mackey to throw his support behind raising the required score. The Board voted in favor 7-2, and the two members who voted "no" felt the score the superintendent recommended was still too low.
See, the concern that remains is that gap between the cut score and the reading-on-grade-level score. Students in that gap are being promoted but are still struggling to keep up in reading.
