Read by Three Research Synthesis Paper

Amy Mangan

University of Las Vegas Nevada

Fall 2016
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Introduction

The evolution of academic expectations is changing at a rapid pace. The classroom of

2016 is dramatically different from that of just several years ago. As a kindergarten teacher it

seems to me an emphasis on ridge structure and test scores appears to prevail as the most

important element of teaching. My kindergarten classroom is not exempt from these ridge

expectations. When I reflect on my first classroom of just nine years ago, there were play based

centers. Our classroom had a kitchen, sand tables, a dress up station, building blocks, puzzles,

and a toy car center. Students were encouraged to interact at the centers and specific time was

allocated in daily lesson plans for center activities. Alas, classrooms that were once centered on

play based learning, are now totally focused on curriculum based academics. My kindergarten

classroom has mandated reading programs, structured intervention strategies, dictated phonemic

awareness activities, required weekly assessments, and daily homework expectations for

students. As this new academic philosophy evolved, so did state laws in support of these new

academic expectations. With large numbers of students graduating high school with minimal

reading skills, it became apparent that educational changes needed to occur. Many states enacted

laws mandating that students successfully read by third grade. Nevada recently has created new

laws to support the new academic philosophy. This paper will address Nevadas law governing

reading expectations.

Nevada Read by Three Act

In 2015 the state of Nevada implemented a law titled, Read by Three Act, governing

reaching achievement in Nevadas school. This law states that if a child is not reading on grade

level by third grade, the child will be retained. Current classroom expectations center around the

mandate of this new legislation. The following guidelines exist. Assessment for deficiencies
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begin at the kindergarten level and continues yearly until fourth grade. Each child is required to

be assessed within 30 days to determine if a reading deficiency is present. In the event a reading

deficiency is discovered, parents are notified and given strategies to assist reading achievement

at home. Intervention strategies are implemented in the classroom. Careful documentation of

progress is maintained. If a child is not proficient in reading by third grade, retention will occur

unless a good cause exemption can be identified. After a child is retained in third grade several

factors must take place to ensure reading achievement occurs, including, a new teacher, smaller

class sizes, and extended learning opportunities.

Good Cause Exemptions

Good cause exemptions protect students who have disabilities or other factors that affect

their reading achievement. Students who are unable for various reasons to meet the stringent

guidelines of the Read by Three Act are covered by the umbrella of good cause exemptions.

There are several conditions that allow for good cause exemptions to occur. These factor include

students who have known deficiencies in reading and have received intensive reading

intervention, limited exposure to language assistance programs, or if a second assessment or

portfolio of work is necessary for reevaluation.

Impact on Students

Reading at grade level by third grade is essential to students educational career. As

stated in, Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How it is Related to High School

Performance and College Enrollment, Students who are not reading at grade level by third

grade begin having difficulty comprehending the written material that is a central part of the

educational process in the grades that follow (Lesnick, Goerge, Smithgall, & Gwynne, 2010, p.
Read by Three 4

4). Reading is a life skill that facilities communication in society. If students lack reading skills,

they will struggle with classroom expectations. Would it not seem likely that there might be a

correlation with self-esteem and self-worth for struggling readers? According to Emily

Workman, Children who are not reading proficiently by third grade are four time less likely to

graduate high school (Workman, 2014, p. 1). Could this result in an increased dropout rate?

Impact on the Community

Read by Three also has an impact on the community at large. Rose & Schimke discuss in

their article, Third Grade Literacy Policies: Identification, Intervention, Retention, retention

creates another cost to our society that of a delayed entrance into the labor market (Rose &

Schimke, 2012, p. 3). This delayed entry into the labor force can be directly impacted by

educators properly utilizing interventions and evaluations in the classroom to ensure the Read by

Three act is effectively executed, and help prepare the students of Nevada to succeed in reading

by third grade.

Interventions

The most effective way to ensure students read on grade level by third grade is through

the use of interventions. Interventions need to occur at all grade levels. Students need to be

identified early to determine those having difficulties with learning to read. Interventions must

occur as soon as students are identified with these difficulties. If children receive intensive

intervention early in their educational career, this can close the achievement gap and they can

become successful in school. According to Read All About It! What States Are Doing to Ensure

Kids Are Reading by Third Grade, written by Patrick Riccards, former chief of staff to the
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National Reading Panel and current Chief Communications and Strategy Officer at the Woodrow

Wilson National Fellowship Foundation,

The good news is that the majority of children who enter kindergarten and elementary

school at risk for reading failure can learn to read at average or above average level but

only if they are identified early and taught using systemic and intensive instruction in

phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension

strategies. (Riccards, 2012, p. 2)

As teachers, we need to ensure that we are teaching our students the necessary components to

become successful readers. Every teacher must do their part by applying the appropriate

interventions in the classroom. While applying these interventions to increase a students

reading achievement, the teacher must be cognizant that there is no single intervention that will

work with every student. Teachers must be flexible and utilize many different intervention

methods to meet the needs of all students. Some students may succeed with one type of

intervention while other students may not. The creative process of learning falls to the teacher to

apply the appropriate intervention in each unique situation. According to the authors of

Retention and Social Promotion, Classroom intervention should include the following:

Research-based and culturally sensitive instructional strategies to promote an optimal

learning environment
Behavior management and cognitive-behavioral strategies to reduce classroom behavior

problems and increase academic achievement and prosocial behavior

Systematic assessment strategies (such as progress monitoring and formative evaluation)

to enable ongoing evaluation and modification of instructional interventions

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Assistance from specialized instructional support personnel (e.g. school psychologist,

social workers, and administrators) to access resources and expertise to address unique

student needs
Materials, structured activities, and guidance for parents and others who can support

students as well as additional opportunities to develop academic or social skills.

(Jimerson & Renshaw, 2012, p. 14)

Teachers need to use comprehensive approaches involving multiple interventions in their

classroom. Interventions should be purposeful and implemented daily. In addition, interventions

should happen school wide, in the classroom, and at home. Community interventions could also

occur at facilities such as libraries, park district programs, day care centers and possibly churches

were appropriate.

One important intervention is preschool. Being able to provide support to our youngest

learners is essential. Offering preschool to students from lower socioeconomic standings is vital

to closing the achievement gap. An article written for the Educational Commission of the States,

titled, Initiatives from Preschool to Third Grade, states, The achievement gap can not only be

identified early, it can also be linked to socioeconomic factors. One national study documented

that, before kindergarten entry, the average cognitive scores of affluent children were 60 percent

higher than those of low-income children (Daily, Atchison, & Workman, 2014, p. 2). Children

need to be provided with support to develop reading skills. Preschool should be a structured

setting to build a students language, vocabulary and social skills. Dr. Sarah Daily, Senior

Research Scientist at Child Trends, discusses the need for high quality preschool programs,

stating, the majority of states now view access to high-quality preschool programs as a

critical long-term economic investment in the future workforce. In addition to high quality
Read by Three 7

preschool programs enabling students to enter elementary school with a higher cognitive

development these students are more likely to overcome obstacle presented in the learning

environment during their educational career. Daily continues to point out the statistics showing,

Rigorous long-term evaluation studies have found that children who participated in high-

quality preschool programs were:

25 percent less likely to drop out of school

40 percent less likely to become a teen parent
50 percent less likely to be placed in special education
60 percent less likely to never attend college
70 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime (Daily, Atchison, & Workman,

2014, p. 4)
These statistics empathize the critical need for high-quality preschools programs to ensure that

students that are matriculate through the Nevada Educational system have the opportunity to

achieve the highest quality of life possible.

Retention

Retention is an emotionally charged issue for teachers, students, and parents. There are

mixed views on retention for students who are not succeeding academically. It is not certain

what impact retention has on a students' success in school. Retention of students generally show

temporary gains in a students' achievements, usually occurring during the retention year.

Retaining students can have negative long term impacts on students. Some negative impacts are

increased negative feelings toward school. Students who have been retained generally suffer

from low self-esteem. In addition, retention can cause peer relationships to be negatively

impacted. Finally, it is possible that students who have been retained may abuse tobacco, drugs

and alcohol, engage in promiscuous sexual activity, can be suicidal and exhibit violent behaviors
Read by Three 8

as teenagers (Jimerson & Renshaw, 2012, p. 12). Although these impacts may not have a direct

correlation to retention in any grade, it can increase these factors. In addition, studies have

shown that retentions disproportionately affect disadvantaged students. Male minority students

coming from lower socioeconomic statuses are more likely to be retained (Rose & Schimke,

2012, p. 3). As teachers, we need to be more cognizant of this so we are providing every student

with the opportunity to learn and grow. According to Rose and Schimke, Given these

disparities, some view grade retention as punishing disadvantaged students who also may not

have received the same quality of instruction as their more advantaged peers (Rose & Schimke,

2012, p. 3). Teachers need to ensure we are providing quality educational programs to all

students. Every student should have the chance to succeed in school and in life. Educators must

fight to provide disadvantaged students with the same opportunities as more advantaged

students.

There are no easy answers when it comes to the issue of retention. The Read by Three

Act implements strategies and interventions in hopes of avoiding retention. With sound teaching

strategies and focus on academics, starting at the kindergarten level, hopefully retention will be

minimal. All components of education need to work together to help every child attain academic

success.

Implementation in Clark County School District

Clark County School District requires all students at grade kindergarten, first, second and

third be assessed to determine reading deficiencies. Nevada Department of Education has

determined which assessments can be utilized when assessing proficiency in reading. These

assessments include:
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AIMSweb, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA), Dynamic Indicators of Basic

Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS), Easy CBM, English Language Proficiency Assessment
(ELPA), iReady, Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), Phonological Awareness
Literacy Screening for Preschool (KPALS), Renaissance STAR Early Literacy, Success
for All (SFA), or World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA).
(Nevada Department of Education, 2015, p. 10)
Following an assessment of students reading skills, parental notification and one on one

parent teacher meetings are mandatory. Beginning with the 2018/2019 school year, third grade

students who do not meet the required reading proficiency will be retained.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the above information reported in this paper illustrates the importance of

students reading on grade level by third grade. The state of Nevada is not alone in their efforts to

implement reading proficiency by third grade. There are a number of states that already have

laws in place to increase student reading achievement by third grade. According to Third-Grade

Reading Policies, thirty-six states, plus the District of Columbia, require a reading assessment to

be administered. Thirty-Three states, plus the District of Columbia, require or recommend the

use of intervention or remediation for struggling readers. Sixteen states, plus the District of

Columbia, require retention of third grade students who are not reading on grade-level by third

grade. (Workman, 2014, p. 1). In an effort to prepare students for either college or entry into the

workforce, proficiency in reading is crucial. The dramatic stance on this issue exemplifies the

importance for all American students to demonstrate literacy proficiency by third grade.

References

Daily, S., Atchison, B., & Workman, E. (2014). Initiatives from preschool to third
grade. Denver: Education Commission of the States.
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Jimerson, S. R., & Renshaw, T. L. (2012, September). Retention and Social

Promotion. Principal Leadership, 12-16.
Lesnick, J., Goerge, R. M., Smithgall, C., & Gwynne, J. (2010). Reading on grade level
in third grade: How it related to high school performance and college
enrollment? A longitudinal analysis of third-grade students in Chicago in
1996-1997 and their educational outcomes. A Report to the Annie E. Casey
Foundation. Chicago: Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago.
Nevada Department of Education. (2015, August). Senate Bill 391 read by third
grade phase 1 plan to improve the literacy of students. Retrieved from
Nevada Department of Education :
www.doe.nv.gov/Legislative/ReadByThree/SB39PlantoImproveLiteracy82615/
Nevada Legislative Counsel Bureau. (2016, October 4). SB391. Retrieved from
NELIS:
https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/78th2015/Bill/2012/Overview
Riccards, P. (2012). Read all about it! What states are doing to ensure kids are
reading by third grade. Minneapolis: Policy Innovators in Education.
Rose, S., & Schimke, K. (2012, March). Third grade literacy policies: Idenitifiction,
intervention, retention. Retrieved from Education Commission of the States:
http://www.ecs.org/third-grade-literacy-policies-identification-intervention-
retention/
Workman, E. (2014, December 9). Third-grade reading policies. Retrieved from
Education Commission of the States: http://www.ecs.org/third-grade-reading-
policies/