District Resources

Third Grade Reading Guarantee Promotion Criteria Changes for 2021-2022

Emergency Legislation Changes the Third Grade Reading Guarantee Promotion Criteria for 2021-2022
Governor DeWine signed Senate Bill 229 of the 134^th General Assembly on December 14, 2021. The following emergency clause takes place immediately.  

Retention Criteria for the 2021-2022 School Year
No school district, community school, STEM school and no chartered nonpublic schools subject to ORC 3301.163 can retain a student in the third grade based solely on a student's academic performance in reading in the 2021-2022 school year unless the principal and reading teacher, in consultation with the student’s parent or guardian, agree the student is reading below grade level and is not prepared for 4^th grade.

Parental Consultation in Promotion Decisions
For the 2021-2022 school year, if a third-grade student's academic performance in reading in the 2021-2022 school year is below grade level but the student's building principal and reading teacher, in consultation with the student's parent or guardian, agree that the student is prepared to be promoted to the fourth grade, the student may be promoted.

However, if the principal of the school building in which a student is enrolled and the student's reading teacher, in consultation with the student's parent or guardian, agree that the student is reading below grade level and is not prepared to be promoted to the fourth grade, a student in the third grade may be retained.

Parental Notification of Remediation Plan
For the 2021-2022 school year, each school district, community school, STEM school and each chartered nonpublic school subject to ORC 3301.163 must notify the parent or guardian of each student who achieves a scaled score below 683 on spring's Ohio State Test for grade 3 English Language Arts and describe the district's or school's remediation plan to improve the student's academic performance in reading.
 

• 2021-2022 Alternative Reading Assessment promotion scores
• Literacy Instruction within Remote Learning Environments
• 2021-2022 Reading Diagnostic Assessments and On-Track Scores
• K-3 Reading Diagnostic and Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan (RIMP) Information 2021-2022
• Revised RIMP Intervention EMIS Codes
• Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan (RIMP)Letter Revision Tool
• Third Grade Reading Guarantee Teacher Qualification Requirements

2021-2022 Test Windows for Ohio's Grade 3 English Language Arts Test

FALL TEST WINDOWS 2021

• Grade 3 English language arts – Five consecutive school days, including makeups, within the Oct. 18 to Nov.5 window.

SPRING TEST WINDOWS 2022

School districts select 15 consecutive school days, including makeups, within each test window.

• English language arts - March 14, 2022 - April 15, 2022

SUMMER TEST WINDOWS 2022 (OPTIONAL)

• Grade 3 English language arts – June 27 – July 1, 2022

Guidance Manual

• Third Grade Reading Guarantee Guidance Manual  (Updated November 2019)

The Ohio Department of Education created this guidance manual to help school districts, community schools, and chartered nonpublic schools understand the requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee. Please note that there may be periodic updates to this guidance document as new issues arise – districts and schools should check the website frequently.

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Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan Template

The Ohio Department of Education developed a Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan sample template in the fall of 2013. This template has been updated to reflect the feedback received from districts and schools since its release. Districts may opt to use the template and are encouraged to modify the template to meet the needs of their students and communities. Districts are not required to utilize the Department-developed template.

• Reading Improvement and Monitoring Plan Template 
• Revised RIMP Intervention EMIS Codes

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Other Information

• List of Approved Assessments
• Assigning Teachers to Retained Third-Grade Students in a Grade 3/4 Split Classroom
• Grade and Subject Acceleration and the Third Grade Reading Guarantee
• Guidance in Creating and Evaluating Literacy Systems and Structures 
• First Year Teacher Mentor Requirement Guidance and FAQ
• Outside Provider Screening Tool
• Mid-Year Promotion FAQ

The Law

• Third Grade Reading Guarantee Law (ORC 3313.608)
• Third Grade Reading Guarantee Law for Scholarship Students (ORC 3301.163)
• Reading Achievement Plans (ORC 3302.13, OAC 3301-56-02)

More Resources​

• Alternative Reading Assessments
• Reading Diagnostic Assessments
• Teacher Resources
• Parent Resources
• Ohio's Literacy Toolkit

Last Modified: 1/18/2022 8:32:35 AM

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