Senate Committee Wants To Suspend Testing Penalties For Third Graders

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Florida law requires 3rd graders with the lowest scores on state tests to be held back. But a Senate committee wants to suspend that penalty this year.

Editor’s note: Check out the update to this story here.

Nearly one in five Florida 3rd graders were at risk of being held back because of low scores on the state reading test last year.

The bill requires an outside group to make sure the state test results are statistically valid.

Sen. David Simmons says he wants to make sure schools and the state can depend on Florida Standards Assessments results before making big decisions using those results.

“Common sense says that we need to ensure that this test that is being administered is, in fact, psychometrically valid,” Simmons says. “This amendment does that.”

The requirement has been a cornerstone of Florida’s education policy since first pushed by former Gov. Jeb Bush. Third grade is considered a key developmental period, when students pivot from learning how to read to using their reading skill to learn.

Students who hadn’t mastered reading by the end of 3rd grade, Bush argued, were more likely to fall behind their peers. But research also shows students held back in third grade are less likely to graduate high school.

The committee also suspended a high school graduation requirement based on state test scores.

Another amendment would have suspended all penalties tied to Florida Standards Assessments scores this year, but the amendment was withdrawn.

The bill still requires approval from the full Senate. The House is working on a different version of the bill.