Mackenzie Ryan

mryan@dmreg.com

With the sun breaking through the summer rain, fourth-graders sat at desks inside Monroe Elementary in Des Moines, headphones on and laptops out as they played a game designed to boost their reading skills.

Across the city at Capitol View Elementary, students gathered at small tables reading books that emphasized certain vowels or sounds, while a teacher followed a script as she explained a concept to a struggling reader.

Both are part of a pilot program and study being conducted by the Iowa Reading Research Center at Des Moines Public Schools and 43 other districts across Iowa.

The research will gauge the best approaches for creating an intensive summer reading program that is a crucial component of Iowa’s controversial third-grade retention law that will be implemented in spring 2018. It was supposed to start next year, before lawmakers delayed it for lack of state funding.

The law requires that students who are behind in reading by the end of third grade be given a choice — repeat the grade or attend summer school.

Educators acknowledge there's no guarantee that those children who do either won’t continue to struggle in fourth grade, when textbooks and assignments become more complex. Studies have shown that students behind in third-grade reading are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

The challenge students face without those skills is "immense," teacher Cindy Dawson said. "Some kids can catch up, but not everybody does."

One-year delay

Educators say the delay is welcome, as the Iowa Department of Education is still developing guidance on which tests to use, and districts are still designing summer reading programs to meet the state’s requirements.

Some doubt that the retention plan will play out as legislators expect, particularly since participation is already a concern in at least some pilot classrooms. Others say much work is needed to ensure that the programs needed are in place by 2018.

“We may have a little bit more breathing room, but the urgency of upgrading the education of these students” is still there, said Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, who chairs the Senate’s education committee.

He’s advocating that districts create a “full-scale test drive” of summer reading programs to prepare.

“When we put this off for a year, we lose one more cohort of students who aren’t getting the assistance that they need,” he said. “There is a real cost to delay here.”

Early interventions

Iowa has taken steps to improve literacy through a systematic, statewide approach meant to replace a hodgepodge of differing district tools and tests.

After the state funded an “early warning” system in 2013, schools implemented a universal screening exam now used three times a year to identify children as early as kindergarten who are behind.

About 90 percent of Iowa schools use the so-called FAST exams, which are provided by the Iowa Department of Education and cost the agency about $800,000 a year.

The screening may have helped Cody Smith’s son get extra assistance in second grade, when he began to struggle.

“We tried to get help from the school,” said the Des Moines resident, who does maintenance repair for the state. “But he didn’t have a low enough score to kick into their special help. … They were saying their hands were tied.”

Smith’s son is entering seventh grade and is above grade level, thanks to an after-school program last year.

“Why it took them until middle school, I don’t know,” Smith said.

In addition, schools monitor the reading progress of struggling readers weekly, using one-minute tests.

In Des Moines, the “fluency” test gauges how quickly and accurately students can read in one minute, said Liz Griesel, the elementary literacy coordinator for the district.

“It gets a little more to the root cause,” she said.

But Tammy Wawro, president of the state teacher’s union, said it can be time-consuming.

“It’s another situation where class size matters,” she said. It “takes a lot of time away from teaching, in some situations.”

And yet, proponents say tests will do a better job of identifying students such as Smith’s son, who slip through the cracks.

“We are really good, as teachers, at identifying students who are really great readers and really poor readers,” said Sarah Brown, the Iowa Department of Education’s bureau chief. “(But not) for students in the middle.”

Summer school key

When those efforts aren't enough, the state’s retention law includes the motivating consequence of requiring third-graders to attend summer school or repeat the grade.

While there’s no requirement to “pass” the summer program to move to fourth grade, students must attend at least 85 percent of the time. The programs must include at least 70 hours of intensive reading instruction.

“Not one single third-grader is going to be held back if they participate in the summer reading program,” Quirmbach said.

Teachers warn that it will help, but it won't necessarily close an academic gap that has widened over years.

"We don't want to hang everything on the summer school program," said Brown, the Iowa Department of Education’s bureau chief. "But we know we can provide a good steppingstone.”

Some caution that the program could be difficult for certain families because of custody arrangements or other circumstances — potentially increasing the number of children retained.

“The idea that this is going to motivate students and families? That’s a mistake,” said Andrew Rasmussen, president of Des Moines’ teacher’s union.

Attendance concerning

While parents like Smith “would do everything in my power” to prevent his children from repeating a grade, including paying for private tutoring, or canceling vacation and summer activities, Rasmussen said that may not be true for all families.

“It’s one of these policies in education that sound good and sound like common sense, until you put it into practice — especially in a large, urban district with high poverty,” Rasmussen said.

Voluntary programs don’t appear to be drawing children, either.

This summer, Des Moines offered busing, free breakfast and lunch, plus other programs as an incentive for families to participate in the pilot program. Yet, attendance was a struggle.

Of 15 students enrolled for each class, there were classrooms in early July with as few as five or six children. Teachers reported a drop-off after the Fourth of July, as well as from vacations and other circumstances.

That has some worried. Even with Iowa’s broad summer school exemption, it's unclear how many students ultimately will repeat third grade.

“We need to engage all the organizations — the PTA, the Boys and Girls Club, the churches, the community organizations — to reach out to parents and persuade them how important it is to get their kids assistance to get up to grade level,” Quirmbach said.

FAST results

Fewer black and Hispanic students are at grade level in reading on the FAST exam than their white peers. The tests are used to monitor reading progress. They're given in the fall, winter and spring. Below are 2016 spring test statewide results:

Grade Race or ethnicity Percentage proficient Kindergarten Black 58.20% Hispanic 60.30% White 72.70% First grade Black 47.20% Hispanic 57.10% White 74.30% Second grade Black 42.80% Hispanic 49.90% White 69.10% Third grade Black 42.20% Hispanic 50.40% White 70.90%

Source: Iowa Department of Education

Researching summer school

By the beginning of the next legislative session, the Iowa Reading Research Center will publish recommendations on the most effective approach that districts can take in creating a summer reading program.

If struggling third-graders face retention in 2018, they can attend the intensive program to progress to fourth grade. And leaders want it to be as effective as possible.

“We want to maximize the opportunity for them to learn in the summer,” said Deborah Reed, the IRRC director. “We hope they are good findings that are applicable, not just to the students between third and fourth grade, but that are more widespread.”

The summer reading study is taking place in 44 school districts and 120 classrooms, because of $1.9 million in pilot funding. That includes $1.3 million in private donations, including $750,000 from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, as well as contributions from the Iowa Department of Education and the Iowa Board of Regents.

Reed and her staff at IRRC, which is housed at the University of Iowa, took precautions in designing a random study, from how teachers were hired to how they're being coached to deliver instruction.

“We want to see how much kids can learn, within the block of time,” she said. “We’re interested in pacing, the rate of moving through the lessons … and we’re looking at student engagement.”

They're studying three programs: One is highly-structured and scripted, which guides teachers on what to say. Another is a computer-based program, and a third is the district’s “homegrown” program, which will create a baseline.

Retention

Students going into second grade will be the first to experience Iowa's third-grade retention law, which will not take effect until spring 2018. It requires students below grade level in reading to either repeat third grade or attend a summer reading program.

There is no requirement to pass the summer school, although students are required to attend 85 percent of the time to progress to fourth grade. The program must provide at least 70 hours of intensive instruction.

Retention exemptions include: