The Confluence of Two Policy Mandates: Core Reading Programs and Third‐Grade Retention in Florida

Educational accountability policies are a popular tool to close the achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students. However, these policies may exacerbate inequality if families from advantaged backgrounds are better able to advocate for their children and thus circumvent policy. We investigate this possibility in the context of the early grade retention policy in Florida, which requires all students with reading skills below grade level to be retained in the third grade, yet grants exemptions under special circumstances. We find that Florida's third-grade retention policy is in fact enforced differentially depending on children's socioeconomic background, especially maternal education. Holding exemption eligibility constant, scoring right below the promotion cutoff results in an increase in the probability of retention that is 14 percent greater for children whose mothers have less than a high school degree compared with children whose mothers have a bachelor's degree or more. We also find that the discrepancies in retention rates are mainly driven by the fact that students with well-educated mothers are more likely to be promoted based on subjective exemptions, such as teacher portfolios.

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Third-grade retention and reading achievement in Texas: A nine year panel study

Social Science Research ◽

10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.05.001 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 ◽

pp. 1-19 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Jon Lorence

Keyword(s):

Reading Achievement ◽

Grade Retention ◽

Panel Study ◽

Third Grade

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The Effects of Universal Preschool on Grade Retention

Education Finance and Policy ◽

10.1162/edfp_a_00248 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 149-177 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Luke C. Miller ◽

Daphna Bassok

Keyword(s):

Grade Retention ◽

Preschool Age ◽

Third Grade ◽

Universal Preschool ◽

Childhood Education ◽

National Leader ◽

The Third ◽

Level Data ◽

Local Program ◽

Instrumental Variables Approach

Nationwide, the percentage of four-year-olds enrolled in state-supported preschool programs has more than doubled since the early 2000s as states dramatically increased their investments in early childhood education. Florida's Voluntary Pre-kindergarten Program (VPK), which began in 2005, has been a national leader with respect to preschool access. This paper provides the first evidence of the program's impacts. We measure the effect of VPK participation on the likelihood that children are retained at any point between kindergarten and third grade. Using an instrumental variables approach, we leverage local program expansion and detailed student-level data on eight cohorts of children, four of which were of preschool age in the years before VPK was implemented and four of which had access to VPK programs. The results indicate that VPK did not lead to changes in the likelihood that children complete the third grade without ever being retained. We do find, however, that VPK led to a change in the timing of retention. Specifically, the program led to a drop in the likelihood that children were retained during the kindergarten year, but this drop was counteracted by increases in retention in subsequent school years. Implications for policy are discussed.

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A Cost–Benefit Analysis of Summer Reading Programs Implemented Under State Guidelines

Educational Policy ◽

10.1177/0895904818802112 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 594-618 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Deborah K. Reed ◽

Kevin M. Cook ◽

Ariel M. Aloe

Keyword(s):

Average Cost ◽

Summer School ◽

Cost Benefit Analysis ◽

Cost Benefit ◽

Reading Programs ◽

Summer Programs ◽

Third Grade ◽

Benefit Analysis ◽

Summer Reading ◽

Summer Reading Programs

This study investigated the costs of different summer reading programs and compared costs to the benefits of summer school as a way to avoid retaining students not reading proficiently at the end of third grade. Per pupil costs ranged from US$1,665 to US$2,194. The average cost was US$1,887 (range: US$266-US$5,552) with 82% of overall expenses attributable to personnel. Results indicate that offering summer reading programs could save schools across the state a total of between US$70.6 million and US$75.5 million in expenses related to providing an extra year of school had all eligible students been retained in third grade instead. This equates to about US$4 in benefit for every dollar invested in summer programs.

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Instruction in District-Designed Intensive Summer Reading Programs

Learning Disability Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0731948718765207 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 147-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica S. Folsom ◽

Deborah K. Reed ◽

Ariel M. Aloe ◽

Sandra S. Schmitz

Keyword(s):

Reading Programs ◽

Third Grade ◽

Instructional Time ◽

Summer Reading ◽

Intensive Intervention ◽

Class Instruction ◽

Whole Class ◽

Summer Reading Programs ◽

Third Grade Reading ◽

Tier 3

This study reports on the instruction provided in district-designed intensive summer reading programs. The Tier 3 intervention was provided to 374 students from 24 school districts who were not meeting the end of third-grade reading benchmarks; students were exiting third grade and entering fourth grade. Observations of the 40 classes were conducted near the beginning, middle, and end of the average 23 days of instruction, and analyzed to capture the proportion of time spent in various instructional groupings (e.g., whole class, small group) and components (e.g., phonological awareness, comprehension). Findings revealed that most time was spent in whole-class instruction, despite the need to offer students a more intensive intervention. Only two thirds of instructional time was spent specifically in reading-related activities. Approximately 30% of literacy instruction was code-focused (e.g., phonics), and 70% was meaning-focused (e.g., comprehension). The discussion addresses the alignment of observations with prior research on effective instruction and implications for designing future district-designed intensive summer reading programs.

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