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When Mississippi overhauled its literacy education in 2013, one of the most controversial pieces was a policy to retain third graders if they couldn鈥檛 pass the reading portion of the state’s English language arts assessment.

Years later, as education officials across the country have taken notice of Mississippi鈥檚 literacy gains, more states have adopted their own retention policies. 

More than two dozen states now have laws requiring or allowing schools to retain third grade students who are not reading at grade level, according to an analysis from the Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit that tracks state legislation in the United States. 

But the research on retention is mixed. 

Historically, most studies indicated that students who had to repeat a grade often benefited very little and had long-term negative consequences. Research from the past decade complicates that picture: Younger students may see some positive effects from retention if schools are also combining it with high-intensity tutoring and support, some studies have shown.

Federal data also shows retention rates vary widely by state. 

For most of the U.S., high school students made up a large share of those who repeated a grade level from 2011 to 2021, the most recent years in which national data was available. (The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, the only source for consistent data across all states, is now eight months in releasing new data.) 

Mississippi stands out. The state has one of the highest third grade retention rates in the country. 

鈥淚f the retention happens in earlier grades and is combined with help 鈥� not just a threat, but some kind of positive intervention 鈥� the results, at least in the short-run, tend to be good,鈥� said Dan Goldhaber, director of the Center for Education Data and Research at the University of Washington.

鈥榃e have to do something鈥�

Rachel Canter, an education policy expert who helped craft the Literacy-Based Promotion Act, said that in 2013, the Legislature was desperate to improve reading in Mississippi. 

鈥淭he rationale was that we have to do something about the fact that we have kids graduating high school that are barely literate,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e had been living in that reality for a long time.鈥�

Mississippi lawmakers started looking to Florida, she said, where former Gov. Jeb Bush made ending 鈥渟ocial promotion鈥� 鈥� the practice of passing students because of their age 鈥� one of his signature policies.

鈥淭he argument that won was, 鈥榃e have to do something, and we know how harmful it is when kids pass with no skills,鈥欌�� Canter said. 

Tenette Smith, who at the time helped lead the Mississippi Department of Education鈥檚 literacy initiatives, said the Legislature wanted the retention policy to hold administrators and leaders accountable to the state鈥檚 children. 

The policy was met with criticism. Opponents were worried that it was punitive and would set children up for failure. Across the country, retention policies have become a partisan issue, Canter said, with Democrats largely viewing them as harmful to children. 

School administrators in Mississippi said many children would be retained if the policy was passed. But Canter took issue with that mindset and the assumption underneath it: That it鈥檚 impossible to get kids ready to read.

鈥淲e were sort of taking a leap of faith,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he goal wasn鈥檛 to retain them, but that was what was going to happen if we couldn鈥檛 get them ready.鈥�

Despite arguments from people who doubt Mississippi鈥檚 reading success and claim the fourth grade reading scores are boosted by holding students back, Canter said Mississippi鈥檚 retention rate didn鈥檛 significantly spike after the 2013 act. 

shows that about 4% of students were held back during the 2011-12 school year. By the 2015-16 school year, after the reading gate was implemented, that percentage increased by a point.

Retention became a hallmark of the state鈥檚 literacy overhaul, but the literacy act established other components that were essential to students鈥� success, she said. 

The act funneled money into literacy education across the state, sending literacy coaches to schools and mandating high-quality curriculum. Teachers received literacy instruction.

鈥淚f retention is the only thing we would have done, I don’t think it would have worked,鈥� she said.

Raising the bar for early grades

The state鈥檚 third grade retention policy has had a trickle-down effect: Retentions in Mississippi are concentrated in kindergarten through second grade, too. 

Researchers including Canter say that鈥檚 because the literacy legislation established more monitoring and higher standards in those grades as well.

That holds true at Western Line School District, with schools located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Western Line held back 68 students in kindergarten through third grade during the 2021-22 school year, compared to 56 students in all other grades combined. 

Not all of those retentions are tied to reading, Superintendent Lawrence Hudson said, but the policy raised the bar for students in early grades.

About 4 in 5 Western Line third graders passed the reading component of the state test on their first try last year, higher than the state average of 75.6%. Passing the test wasn鈥檛 the school鈥檚 focus, Hudson said. 

鈥淲e want to make sure kids are successful for the rest of their life,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e know if children have deficits at younger grades, they鈥檒l get to third grade with those deficits. 

鈥淭he longer you wait, the harder it is to clear those deficiencies.鈥�

Rep. John Hines, a Democrat from Greenville, fears the retention policy is making it harder for students to graduate in his Delta district, which is one of the poorest regions in one of the poorest states in the country. He said he doesn鈥檛 want students in his district to be disproportionately retained. 

But Hines can鈥檛 deny how beneficial retention was for his younger brother decades ago.

鈥淗e was extremely shy and nervous, so he wouldn鈥檛 talk, and once he became nervous, he shut down,鈥� Hines said. 鈥淭he teacher talked my mom into letting him stay back in the first grade.鈥�

That marked the beginning of a transformation, Hines said. His brother was coaxed out of his shell and became an honors student. 

Students don鈥檛 automatically improve when they鈥檙e retained, Canter said. To help students, schools have to get them the academic support they need in that year they repeat. The decision to retain a student is difficult, she said, but combined with intervention, it can pay dividends. 

鈥淎ny time a child is retained, it is a signal that we have not done what we needed to do as adults,鈥� Canter said. But the retention policy paired with additional support has 鈥渄one great things for kids,鈥� she said. 

Extending the gains

Despite Mississippi鈥檚 gains among fourth graders on a national reading assessment, those gains haven鈥檛 continued into higher grades. 

With hopes of extending those gains to fourth through eighth grades, Mississippi lawmakers modeled on the 2013 literacy act. 

The state education agency will deploy coaches to schools across the state, provide training for teachers, require screeners throughout the year to assess students鈥� proficiency and mandate that schools use agency-approved curriculum. 

There鈥檚 one glaring difference: The omits the retention policy.

Research shows holding older students back can negatively affect their chances of graduating, so lawmakers intentionally left a retention policy out, said Rep. Kent McCarty, a Republican from Hattiesburg who is vice chairman of the House Education Committee. 

Without a firm accountability component, Canter is skeptical the Adolescent Literacy Initiative will have the same impact as the 2013 literacy act. 

鈥淚s it going to be enough?鈥� she asked.

This story about was produced as part of a collaboration with at Stanford University and , a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Ariel Gilreath of The Hechinger Report contributed reporting. The data analysis was conducted by Eric Sagara, senior data journalist with Big Local News.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

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