• Check Third Grade Guarantee Documents Here

Legislation was created in regards to Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee. This legislation is a mandate and emphasizes reading instruction and intervention in the early grades. The Third-Grade Reading Guarantee law impacts parents, students, schools and districts in many ways.

All students entering the third grade must demonstrate a certain level of competency in reading before advancing to the fourth grade. This level will start between "limited" and "proficient" on Ohio’s Achievement Assessment in reading for grade 3, and will rise over time. The law went into effect during the 2012-2013 school year.

Our district uses the iReady online assessment and Ohio State Assessments to both evaluate and monitor reading ability. The new state law applies to all Ohio public school students in kindergarten through third grade. Every K-3 student must receive a reading assessment by September 30th.

The new law requires that schools provide student-specific reading support and instruction to identified students within 60 days after identifying the student as not on track. Reading support includes intensive, individualized, and regular instruction using research-based strategies.

The district must develop a reading improvement and monitoring plan for each student identified as reading below grade level. The plan must do the following:

1. Identify the student’s specific reading skill level

2. Describe the additional instructional services and support

3. Include opportunities for parental involvement

4. Specify a process for monitoring the student’s receipt of the services and support

5. Provide a reading curriculum that assesses his or her reading progress using vetted assessments and research-based strategies

6. State that the student may be retained in third grade for failure to pass the third-grade reading assessment.

If a student is retained in third-grade because of the reading guarantee, he/she will be provided with student-specific instruction that aligns with their achievement levels to bring them up to grade level.

Our elementary schools are school-wide Title I schools. As a part of this program every parent receives a parent compact. The purpose of the School-Parent Compact is to build and foster the development of a school-parent partnership to help all children achieve the State’s high standards. It establishes the responsibility for improved student achievement as one shared by parents, the child, and teachers.

The compact is for every student, parent and classroom teacher but will be particularly important for parents of students identified as not on track in reading in grades K-3. Parents of students not on track in reading will receive a letter notifying them of their child’s status and inviting them to join with their child’s classroom teacher and as appropriate Title I or Intervention teacher in creating a reading improvement and monitoring plan that is consistent with the law. The Title I compact describes how parents can support their child’s reading development at home and become involved at school.

The following are documents that support the Third Grade Reading Guarantee in our schools.

Reading First Ohio - http://www.readingfirstohio.org/page/how-help-your-childFamily
Family involvement strengthens student learning and improves academic achievement. Students with active family support have better attendance, pass more classes and earn more credits resulting in higher grade point averages and higher test scores. As a result, they are more likely to continue their education beyond high school and learn social and behavioral skills that help them at home, at school and throughout life.

INFOHIO - http://www.infohio.org/
INFOhio, a virtual K-12 library, transforms teaching and learning by connecting educational resources with the power of information technology.

INFOhio's Core Collection of Electronic Resources, 16 tools selected for K-12 research, provides state-funded resources free to all Ohio K-12 students and and educators for the 2011-2012 school year. A username and password are required for home access; see your school library media specialist, technology coordinator or classroom teacher.

Bembo's Zoo - http://www.bemboszoo.com/
Watch how the letters of the alphabet re-form into animals. Preschool - K

Sesame Street Games, Videos, Instruction- http://www.sesamestreet.org/

Free Federal Websites - http://www.free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=80&toplvl=78&res_feature_request=0
Resources in every subject area made available by federal agencies. More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. New sites are added regularly.

Free Reading - http://www.freereading.net/index.php?title=Main_Page
An open source free reading intervention program for grades K-6

PBS Parents - http://www.pbs.org/parents/PBS
PBS Parents is a trusted resource that’s filled with information on child development and early learning. It also serves as a parent's window to the world of PBS KIDS, offering access to educational games and activities inspired by PBS KIDS programs.

Interactive Reading Websites - http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/interact-read.htm
A list of links to websites with reading resources

International Children's Digital Library - http://en.childrenslibrary.org/
The ICDL is a rich resource that can be used in a wonderfully wide range of situations by children, parents, teachers, librarians, and others from all walks of life. Children can expand upon the stories to create games; parents can extract themes to help explain important lessons; teachers can utilize the multicultural nature of the collection to teach languages; librarians can enrich community outreach programs with tales from around the world and; of course, anyone can just open a book to read for pleasure.

National PTA - Literacy - http://www.pta.org/4402.htm

Reading is Fundamental - http://www.rif.org/
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is the largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States. We prepare and motivate children to read by delivering free books and literacy resources to those children and families who need them most. We inspire children to be lifelong readers through the power of choice. RIF provides new, free books for children to choose from and make their own.

RIF - Reading Planet - http://www.rif.org/kids/readingplanet.htm