Third grade reading retention policies are not new, but some states, including Indiana and Arkansas, implemented them after the pandemic. Research is mixed on holding students back and states vary on what additional support they provide students who repeat third grade.
- A study of Michigan third graders found that students who scored just below the cutoff and were flagged for retention scored higher on tests a year later than students who scored just above the cutoff.
- In Mississippi, one study found that students who were held back later had higher English language arts scores and the same attendance rates as students who scored just above the cutoff.
- A new study of Texas students found that those held back were less likely to graduate high school and had lower wages at age of 26.
The results from the Texas study are "really sobering," said Brian A. Jacob, an education policy and economics professor at the University of Michigan.
Still, there is some evidence and a school of thought that a retention policy helps motivate adults to provide more student support, he said.
