INDIANAPOLIS — Recent data shows that third graders in Indiana are having a hard time reading.
By the end of third grade, one in five students can’t read effectively. This issue is a priority of the 2024 legislative session.
Republicans have proposed Senate Bill 1, which would require the IREAD-3 test be taken in second grade.
If students pass, they won’t have to take the test again. If they don’t, summer school will be offered, not required, and extra support will be required throughout third grade.
Students that still need to pass IREAD-3 will take the test in the spring and again after summer school if necessary. If a student still doesn’t pass, students could be held back.
That portion of the bill is one educator’s worry will have unintended consequences.
"We like to say that everyone fits this standard mold, but we don't,” Mandy Barnum, a reading teacher said. “Kids are going to learn at their rate no matter how many extra programs we throw at them or how many threats of retention we give them."
Barnum is a middle school reading teacher in Huntington, Indiana. She spent Tuesday talking to lawmakers about the retention portion of the bill. She says outcomes have never accomplished what they typically are intended to do.
"What I have personally seen because we have only done it a handful of times is that, that student often becomes a behavior problem the next year with that next group of kids,” Barnum said.
That’s not the only issue though. Research shows that retention impacts students of color and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Faith leaders in the black community worry that it could discourage black and brown children in education settings.
"It's just another way that says 'ok we are going to put you in a different class, put you behind everybody else and once you are behind early on in life, it's hard to catch back up,'” Ivan Douglas Hicks, who has a P.H.D and is the pastor of First Baptist Church North Indianapolis said. “This super majority also has a super surplus.”
Funding is just one portion of the bill that this group of people would like to see change.
They want Senate bill 1 to reduce class sizes, invest in professional development of educators, and make sure schools have up to date books and technology. Plus, they would like to see more programming be made to encourage parents to read with their kids.
Funding is one issue that public school teachers say could solve the problem. But they feel the Indiana general assembly keeps taking money away from public schools, which causes them to work with smaller amounts of staff.
"Ultimately all of these things are predicated on the idea that we will have enough funding to pay for them,” Barnum said. “That’s kind of what it boils down to.”
Senate bill 1 has passed out of the Senate. It has a committee hearing in the House on Wednesday. If it passes out of the House, it heads to the governor’s desk who is likely to sign it, since this topic is one of his priorities this year.
