State Superintendent Janet Barresi spoke at a press conference Monday urging parents and educators to get informed on the third grade reading law taking full effect this year.

"Reading is not a measure of intelligence. Reading is a skill and these children acquire this skill in many different ways," Barresi said. "If you can’t read you can’t do anything else. It’s the most fundamental important thing we can provide for our children." 

The reading law is a part of the Reading Sufficiency Act aimed at curbing Oklahoma’s nearly 30 percent illiteracy rate. This law or similar measures are already active in 10 other states and the District of Colombia.

To be promoted to fourth grade, third graders need to score Limited Knowledge (typically a second-grade level), proficient (typically a third-grade level) or higher on the reading portion of the Oklahoma Core Curriculum Test (OCCT).

If a child scores unsatisfactory, they will be subject to additional options to demonstrate basic reading skills, including a student portfolio and alternative assessment tests.

There are six "good cause" exemptions allowing students to progress despite lower scores.

• Students identified as Limited-English Proficient (LEP)/English Language Learner (ELL) and have a Language Instruction Educational Plan (LIEP) in place prior to the administration of the third grade criterion test.

• Students with disabilities who are assessed with alternate achievement standards (AA- AAS) under the Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) with the Oklahoma Alternative Assessment Program (OAAP) qualify for the good cause exemption.

• The student must score an acceptable level of performance on an approved alternative standardized reading assessment.

• Students may demonstrate an acceptable level of performance through a teacher-developed portfolio

• Students with disabilities who participate in the statewide criterion-referenced test and have an IEP may qualify for a good cause exemption.

• Students who demonstrate a reading deficiency and have been previously retained may qualify for a good cause exemption. To qualify for this exemption, the student must meet the following criteria: The student must have been previously retained in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade for a total of two years and the student must have received intensive reading instruction for two or more years.

Barresi continually repeated during the press conference that it is not a single test on a single day that decides if a third-grader promotes or not.

"I want to emphasize something; retention is a last resort, and I want to dispel the myth that this is one test on one day for our children."

For more detailed information on the third grade reading retention program, as well as the full text of each part of the Reading Sufficiency Act, visit www.ok.gov/sde/reading-sufficiency-act.