WASHINGTON — A growing number of states are drawing a hard line
in elementary school, requiring children to pass a reading test
in third grade or be held back from fourth grade. Thirteen
states last year adopted laws that require schools to identify,
intervene and, in many cases, retain students who fail a reading
proficiency test by the end of third grade. Lawmakers in several
other states and the District of Columbia are debating similar
measures. Not every state requires retention; some allow schools
to promote struggling readers to fourth grade as long as they
are given intensive help. Advocates of the new tough-love
policies say social promotion — advancing students based on age
and not academic achievement — results in high-schoolers who can
barely read, let alone land a job or attend college. Literacy
problems are best addressed at an early age, they say. Critics
say the policies reflect an accountability movement that has
gone haywire, creating high-stakes tests for 8-year-olds. The
child, not the sch