October 24, 2022
The Third Grade Reading Guarantee remains one of the most hotly-debated policies in Ohio’s education system, but it may cease to exist come next year.
Third graders have a big task at the end of their school year. How they score on the English language arts assessment will determine if they make it to fourth grade, or if they are held back.
“William’s challenges with reading have persisted since the COVID break,” mother-of-two Kristen Kalonick said.
Kalonick’s son is in the third grade. After her daughter was held back due to a learning disability, she knows what that can do to his development.
“They go through a different kind of psychological adjustment with that and then there can be a stigma attached to it,” she said. “For him, it’s certainly a real risk.”