Realities of Mandatory, High-Stakes Reading Interventions: Consequential Truths of Retention Reform for Below-Grade-Level Third-Grade Readers

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: The Praxis of Teachers: Responding to Reform (Table 2)

Abstract

Socially and politically normed and accepted as Truth, third-graders must read on-grade-level or face consequences. Widespread high-stakes reading intervention policies (Sparks, 2015; Workman, 2014) targeted improved reading proficiency. Policies aimed to ensure elementary teachers provided literacy assessments and corresponding interventions. States identified end-of-grade assessment markers for retaining below-grade-level third-graders (Author, 2019). Approved interventions meant waived student retention. South Carolina’s (SC) Read to Succeed (RTS) had the most legislative intervention caveats for retention exemption. Districts and schools submitted intervention plans to RTS for approval. Customized plans met districts’ and schools’ cultural and financial needs, but resulted in notable intervention variation. Findings explain intervention variations and inconsistencies. Implications for literacy learning based on intervention plans and teachers’ implementation are discussed.

Authors

• Jennifer Barrett-Tatum, Western Carolina University
  Presenting Author

• Roya Q. Scales, Western Carolina University
  Presenting Author