New “Must Pass” Test for Louisiana 3rd Graders to Advance

Among Louisiana’s 1,203 public schools in 70 school districts [and roughly 680,000 K-12 students statewide], third graders will be the first class that must demonstrate proficiency in reading to graduate to the fourth grade. It’s all part of a new law Louisiana legislators approved during last year’s legislative session. Then-Governor John Bel Edwards signed Act 422-HB12 on June 30, 2023, with the provision it would not go into effect until the start of the 2024-25 school year.
Speaking this week, Louisiana Education Superintendent Dr. Cade Brumley says they hope it will help bring up Louisiana’s literacy rates. “And so students will take a brief screener at least three times a year. And that information, the results will be shared with parents and shared with teachers.” As Sean Richardson with the Louisiana Radio Network reports, if third graders score in the “well below” category [which about 30% did last year], they will be put into extra tutoring and support programs in hopes of later testing high enough to advance.

Barbara Bush Foundation for Literacy

This legislation did not come about in a political vacuum. Instead it followed news that 27% of Louisiana adults have low literacy, ranking the state 46 out of 50 in the U.S. Only 15% of Louisiana’s lower-income students and less than half of higher-income students can read with proficiency.
Ultimately, the goal is to end “social promotion” as Dr. Brumley concludes, “at the end of the day, if that child can’t show proficiency in reading for the beginning of that fourth grade year, they’re not going to be promoted into that fourth grade classroom.”
The legislature invested $30 million into intensive tutoring programs during the school day and increased the cap of potential scholarships through the Steve Carter Literacy Program for after-school help.