Dive Brief:

• Oklahoma City Public Schools will promote 514 students to the fourth grade despite the fact that they failed the state's reading assessment.  
• Oklahoma initially said it would retain third graders who failed the exam, but when dismal scores came back in May (16% of third graders statewide failed the exam, a figure that jumped to 29% for Oklahoma City alone) the state legislature set into motion a plan allowing students to be promoted if they pass an alternative test or a coalition of parents and educators unanimously agrees.
• Some 636 third graders will be retained until they pass the test either this summer or in the fall.  

Dive Insight:

Holding students back is contentious in its own right. New York University education historian Diane Ravitch has posted many findings on this, specifically those by the American Institute for Research's Umet Ozek. In an abstract, Ozek explains that retention, "increases the likelihood of disciplinary incidents and suspensions in the years that follow. The findings also suggest that these adverse effects are concentrated among economically disadvantaged students.”

If we are going to ignore this line of thinking and just look at Oklahoma's policy, it's still troubling. The setting up of plans followed by hastily created exit strategies does not bode well and probably will not fix the state's larger literacy issues. Having third graders in limbo, not knowing what grade they will be in next year, probably does not make for the most relaxing, stress-free summer break. While the amendment that allows students to be promoted at a later date was meant to acknowledge that not all students test well, putting pressure on another reading test still creates a high-stakes environment. Lastly, what strategies does Oklahoma have in place to raise reading scores between now and when the "in limbo" third graders retest?