Maryland Education Board Literacy policy proposal has the community speaking out
MARYLAND – The Maryland State Superintendent of Schools is proposing a new policy that would hold 3rd graders back if they haven’t met reading requirements. The proposed policy prompted concern from many Maryland education officials, who addressed the state board, and the community had much to say about it. Wanting your child to excel is a normal thing, but what if you were told if your child couldn’t read this book, they had to stay behind?
DeMyra Harvey-Morris is a former educator and the Project Read Coordinator for the Wicomico County Public Library. The average adult she tutors is on a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level. Harvey-Morris says a recently proposed policy to hold back third graders who are not reading proficiently could help prevent student drop out, but it could also disproportionately impact disadvantaged students. “There’s about 1 million people in Maryland right now, who can’t read above a 3rd grade reading level… Somerset County is the poorest county in Maryland, how many of those students are going to be held back? And what are we doing to provide the resources to the teachers to reduce class sizes, probably pay them better.”
Harvey- Morris says teachers can’t always just focus on individual students when they have a class of 30, and teaching kids to read isn’t easy. “This is Stuart Little, and By the middle or end of 3rd grade, they should be able to read this book, and not only to understand that it’s fiction, but to really comprehend the messages as well… We like to teach them the 5-finger rule. They pick up a book, they read the first page, for every word that they don’t know, they put up a finger. Once they get to 5 they know that that book is a little bit too hard.”
Melody Bankert is a grandmother of a first grader who she brings to the library often. She says those who can’t read will have a harder time in life, and teachers need help. “I don’t think the teachers have the ability to handle discipline problems when there’s that many kids, and I think the discipline problems take away quite a bit from the learning… I think it’s a community problem. I think that everybody needs to come together and help these students and find them resources, so that they’re not falling behind to start with.”
If the proposed policy is implemented, students must score a 735 on the state’s third grade English test to advance to the fourth grade. The retention portion would not go into effect until the end of the 2026-27 school year, meaning current first grade students could be the first group affected.
