About eighteen-hundred Iowa kids who’ve completed third grade but are having problems with reading will participate in a pilot project this summer. Governor Terry Branstad announced that he’s raised nearly two million dollars for the project by reallocating money from within state government, along with one-point-three million dollars in private contributions.
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About 40 school districts have already signed up for the pilot project. A licensed teacher will run each class — for about 15 students.
In the spring of 2017, students in third grade who fail reading proficiency tests will be required to go to summer school. Local school officials will decide how long those classes will run. Deborah Reed is director of the Iowa Reading Research Center at the University of Iowa.
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Branstad plans to ask legislators to set aside nine million dollars in state tax dollars NEXT year for this reading initiative. Third graders who cannot read at grade level will be required to participate in 2017, but they’ll be able to advance to fourth grade in the fall of 2017 regardless of their performance.
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