Emily Gurtner sits at a small table in the corner of her third-grade classroom at Joseph C. Moscona Elementary in Metairie. She calls students over one at a time for a timed reading exercise.
“If you don’t know a word, that’s OK; just skip it and keep going,” she tells a tall girl named Carolina.
Today, she's testing students' oral fluency, the ability to read aloud accurately and quickly. Carolina reads a passage about a poet heading to Paris. When the alarm on Gurtner's phone goes off, she counts the words Carolina read correctly in one minute: 116.
“Did you beat the goal?” Gurtner asks. Carolina looks unsure.
“Yes, you did,” Gurtner says. “I'm very proud of you. Let’s keep up that good work.”
Carolina is so happy that she skips back to her seat.
Louisiana is the only state where students' reading scores have improved since 2019. Officials credit the state’s new policies, and now, the final piece is taking effect.
Starting this year, schools must hold back third graders who fail to pass the state’s reading test unless they qualify for an exemption, including if a child is diagnosed with dyslexia or new to the country and still learning English. Students who attend charter schools are also exempt.
Nearly a quarter of Louisiana’s third graders did not pass the test on their first try in April. Students could retake the test in May and have one final chance this summer.
Gurtner, Carolina’s summer school teacher, says she’s making progress. During the first week of the month-long program in Jefferson Parish, Gurtner says Carolina practiced reading tricky words and blending letter sounds.
“But I think it’s her confidence level that has been boosted so much,” Gurtner says. “Just with this environment here. It’s a smaller group setting than a normal class size.”
There are no more than 15 kids in each summer class and two adults, compared to the typical 25 students.
More than a dozen states have passed similar third-grade reading laws, requiring schools to hold back students who are behind in reading. Educators like to say that third grade is the year when students go from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," and studies show that students who aren't on grade level by then are more likely to struggle in school and drop out.
Despite this, the policies are controversial, says Juan D'Brot with the Center for Student Assessment. "A lot of research indicates that withholding a student has detrimental impacts long-term, more so than a student who doesn't have foundational skills and gets moved on," he says.
Most of the benefit of this legislation is not in the decision to hold a student back, D'Brot says. "It's in the requirements to try to intervene as early and often as possible."
Since lawmakers passed Louisiana's law in 2023, schools have had time to prepare, says Laura Rousell, the chief academic officer for Jefferson Parish Public Schools, the state's largest school district.
State law requires schools to identify students starting in kindergarten who might need extra help, provide them with tutoring and other support, and notify their parents.
Rousell says the intent of the law is clear and that districts should remain focused on "How are we moving right now to do what we can do to close this gap?"
In Jefferson Parish, the district invited nearly 1,000 second and third grade students to attend summer school this year. The half-day, month-long program provides students with more than 30 hours of literacy instruction, Rousell says. Even more children participated in a full-day program last year, where students also got help in other subjects, which the district paid for using COVID relief funds from the federal government.
Rouselle says with the added support, kids are catching up.
At the start of the school year, about 1,600 third graders were reading below grade level in the parish. Kids received extra support during the school year, and by the spring, the number had dropped by more than half.
Schools only have to hold back kids who score "well below" grade level and don't qualify for an exemption. That number is closer to 300, Rousell says. Many of those kids are in summer school and have one more opportunity to take the test.
See how students scored on Louisiana's reading test at each Jefferson Parish school.
Holding students back 'as a last resort'
State law requires schools to track students' reading progress starting in kindergarten, using an assessment that has been widely used in schools for decades, called DIBELS.
DIBELS stands for "Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills" and consists of multiple tests designed to measure the building blocks of reading, including phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Educators say the structure allows them to identify students who are behind and in which areas they need help.
The assessment categorizes students as "above," "at," "below," or "well below" their grade reading level. The material gets more difficult with each grade, and cut scores increase throughout the year.
Louisiana reports results broken down as "at or above" or "below" grade level, which includes "well below." If a student falls into the "well below" category and doesn't qualify for an exemption under the state's new law, they must repeat third grade.
About 77% of the state's third graders passed the test on their first try in April. Students could retake the test in May and have one final chance to take it after attending summer school.
Jenna Chaisson, the state's deputy superintendent of teaching and learning, says she expects schools to hold far fewer students back than the 23% who initially failed to meet the standards. However, she says that the department won't know the final number until the new school year begins.
Florida is credited with starting the wave of third-grade reading laws in 2003, although Mississippi’s law, which passed in 2013, has attracted more attention recently due to the state’s dramatic growth in reading scores.
Kymyona Burk was responsible for implementing Mississippi’s literacy reforms and now advises other states. She says the point of third-grade laws isn’t to hold kids back but to ensure that other policies help as many students as possible pass.
“All of these things are to keep retention from happening. Which is why we call it retention as a last resort,” Burke says.
Like Louisiana, Mississippi trains its teachers in the science of reading and has invested tens of millions of dollars in tutoring. Schools are supposed to test students for reading difficulties as soon as they enter the system and closely monitor their progress. That way, if they need help, they can get it early.
Burk says that because of this strategy, Mississippi has held back fewer kids over time.
Nearly 15% of third graders failed the test on their first attempt when the last took effect in 2015. After two retests, more than 90% of students had passed. That year, Mississippi ended up holding back about 8% of its third graders because of the law and other reasons.
The following year, lawmakers amended the law to raise the score students needed to pass starting in 2019. That year, roughly 75% of students passed on their first try. Alabama, which passed its law in 2019, recently increased its cut score.
Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama have some of the most comprehensive reading policies in the country, and they’ve led to significant gains. Mississippi, once at the bottom in third-grade reading, is now close to the top, and Louisiana and Alabama are climbing the ranks faster than any other state.
Testing experts raise concerns
Some teachers are concerned that Louisiana is using the DIBELS test to determine if students are ready for fourth grade rather than an end-of-year exam.
While other states have similar reading laws, Louisiana is the only one that uses a literacy screener as its initial benchmark rather than a final assessment, such as the state's LEAP exam.
The advocacy group Burk works for, ExcelinEd, reviewed all of Louisiana's literacy practices and flagged this part of the state's policy. "The state should amend the policy to require schools to use a summative assessment for 3rd-grade retention determinations, and not the literacy screener," the report says.
Burk says screeners should guide teachers throughout the year, while assessments are given at the end to determine if a student has mastered the material, and the state shouldn't use them interchangeably.
Chiasson, with Louisiana's Department of Education, says the disagreement over DIBELS is "a difference in opinions," noting that the department includes a passing LEAP score on its list of exemptions, so it isn't missing from the decision-making process.
The department stands by the tool, Chaisson says, but is "open to seeing the results and making any adjustments that need to be made over time."
Juan D'Brot, with the Center for Assessment, says it's risky to rely on any one test to decide whether to hold a student back, and he shares Burk's concerns that Louisiana is using the screener beyond its intended purpose. Like ExcelinEd, the Center for Assessment provides policy guidance to states.
States need to have multiple "catch points," D'Brot says, so that if they happen to be wrong on one measure, there are "other pieces of evidence" to support a decision, like whether to hold a student back.
D'Brot says including a passing LEAP score as an exemption is a good stopgap. Still, the state should go further, he says, and also allow teachers to submit portfolios for students they think are ready for fourth grade but haven't otherwise qualified to be promoted. ExcelinEd has made the same recommendation to the state.
Data visuals by Sophia Anderson
