EdWeek highlights a new study conducted by Brian Jacob, Christina Weiland, and Jordy Berne
Their findings suggest that students struggling with reading benefit not from retention, but from the extra reading support that’s unlocked when students are flagged for retention.
A new study conducted by Marsal School professors Brian Jacob and Christina Weiland, U-M doctoral candidate in economics Jordy Berne, and Katharine O. Strunk (University of Pennsylvania) investigates the outcomes of Michigan’s former Read by Grade 3 law, a controversial state policy to hold back struggling readers who don’t reach proficiency by the end of third grade. (Governor Gretchen Whitmer repealed the policy in 2023.)
The findings from the study suggest that grade retention is useful not because the students repeat a grade, but because of the intervention it triggers.
“Third graders who scored just below the cutoff received access to reading support services, which varied by district—offerings like summer reading programs or high-dosage tutoring. This group of children scored 0.045 standard deviations higher than the group of 3rd graders who scored just above the cutoff, and didn’t receive these services,” reports EdWeek.
The study implies that retention itself isn’t doing much to move the needle on students’ reading outcomes, but as Jacob told EdWeek, it doesn’t necessarily mean states should get rid of retention requirements altogether.
“If there weren’t this potential for mandated retention,” he asked, “would states and districts have the political will to provide the supports in the first place?”
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