Study shows few students held back by Michigan’s child literacy law

Researchers at Michigan State University say a state law that required low-performing students to repeat third grade had a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged students.

The report examines the impact of Michigan’s Read by Grade Three law, passed in 2016. The measure is intended to provide requirements and resources to identify students with reading difficulties and improve reading skills in early childhood.

Part of the law required students who scored below state standards on M-STEP assessments between 2021 and 2023 to repeat third grade. Lawmakers repealed that aspect of the policy last year.

Researchers from MSU and the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) found in a recent report that more than 92% of students who scored below the cutoff reading score did not repeat school. Instead, they went to fourth grade because they received an exemption from their school district.

Tara Kilbride, acting deputy director of EPIC and co-author of the report, said interventions to help young children learn to read were crucial.

“This must be a priority because literacy skills are fundamental to the rest of their education and much of their lives,” she said.

According to the report, more than 5,000 students did not perform as well as the state minimum standard. But only about 400 students were able to repeat the third grade.

Kilbride said that over 95 percent of those repeating third grade came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and over 80 percent were students of color.

“Sometimes the extra year of instruction in third grade has positive effects,” Kilbride said. “But in some cases the benefits to students either last for a short period of time, or in some cases research has shown that they have a longer-term negative impact on things like graduation rates.”

There were also differences in the way charter schools applied the law.

Unlike public school districts, where 5% of students were retained in third grade, charter schools held back about 17% of eligible students. The report says charter school administrators and staff were more likely to believe the policy would improve students’ literacy skills.