MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee lawmakers are considering to push for a new bill for math intervention, similar to the third-grade reading retention law. But this time they said holding students back a grade won't be an option.
The proposed law would require summer school or tutoring for students scoring below the benchmark on their TCAP or universal screener. It would apply to all kindergarten through eighth grade students, not just third graders.
Statewide about 34% of students tested proficient in math last school year.
"You have to know how to read by third grade. But after third grade, once you know how to read, reading is repetitive,” said Republican St. Rep. Scott Cepicky of Culleoka. “Once you know how to read, you know how to read. With mathematics, it's building: addition, then subtraction, then division, then multiplication."
State democrats who are against the bill argue it is the wrong way to bring scores up. They compare it to the third-grade reading retention law which democrats said "did nothing to achieve its stated purpose."