State Rep. Cathy Joy Loy, a Republican from Carthage, said her bill is a “tourniquet” to “stop the bleeding of children who can’t read” to automatically retain Missouri third-graders who struggle to read.
But speaking before the Senate Education Committee Tuesday morning, school administrators said literacy rates have improved in the three years since the state implemented a teacher training program on phonics-based reading instruction. Loy’s bill, they argue, could disrupt that momentum.
“We’re seeing progress,” said Taneyville Superintendent Brandi Turner. “However, meaningful, systematic change requires time, stability and sustained support.”
In 2022, state lawmakers passed Bill Mandating “evidence-based reading instruction” with intervention for struggling readers. In response, the state Department of Education launched this “Learn, Lead, Grow” initiativeResources for teachers and teacher training programs. More than 10,000 teachers have completed training in three years.
Turner said lawmakers “need time to fully implement” the 2022 law.
“Retention doesn’t address the root cause of reading difficulties,” she said. “It only delays progress without guaranteeing improved results. While the intent is to support struggling readers, the practice does not address the underlying challenges students face.”
Several states have expressed interest in mandatory retention since Mississippi adopted the policy in 2013 as part of a larger literacy law.
As of 2013, Mississippi’s fourth-grade reading Scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have improved From 49th to ninth in the nation. Educators point to the data as indicative of at least short-term gains for students, but whether the policy will lead to long-term success is difficult to discern.
While Mississippi’s fourth-grade scores have risen over the past decade, eighth-graders have made more modest gains. In 2013, the state ranked 50th in eighth-grade reading assessments, compared to 41st in 2024.
Mexico School District Superintendent Troy Lentz told the committee that there isn’t enough evidence that repeating third grade helps students long-term. He was concerned about students who excel in some subjects when they have difficulty in studying.
“Kids are good that things are, and they’re not able to move on (if they’re kept),” he said. “I believe our schools provide intensive reading support for children who are falling behind.”
But for the committee’s chairman, state Sen. Rick Brattin, Republican of Harrisonville, letting struggling readers into 4th grade is a “recipe for disaster.”
“Passing them is not a help or an advantage or anything,” he said. “It would probably, in my opinion, have more disastrous consequences.”
Craig Carson, assistant superintendent of learning for the Ozark School District, said the option should remain to leave students’ parents to make retention decisions.
“We look at the child as a whole and help the parent decide whether it’s a good idea or not,” he said. “Sometimes it’s a great idea, and when it is, I fully support it.”
“I don’t think a mandatory trigger is good,” he added.
As it stands, the bill would automatically place students who score “at risk” on a reading screener administered at the end of third grade. Students with disabilities, English language learners and those who have already been suspended once may qualify for a discount.
Otto Fazen, director of legislative policy for the Missouri National Education Association, said the bill “at a minimum” should have options for students to sign up for programs like tutoring or summer school to avoid being forced to repeat classes.
“It’s hard for us to see the law changing to remove parental agency in these decisions about adoption,” he said. “Especially since, as it stands, it’s basically going to rest on a single event score.”
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