Kids will be held back if they are struggling with their reading by the end of the third grade, a soon-to-be law says.
The bill passed through Michigan legislature on Wednesday and Governor Rick Snyder is expected to sign the bill into law.
The law won't take affect until the 2019-2020 school year, at which point students will have to demonstrate they can read at a third grade level on state tests or they will have to repeat third grade.
There will be exceptions that parents can apply for, such as if their child is learning English as a second language, the student came from a different district or state where they didn't receive individualized reading attention, and if the student has been held back for at least two years without improvement.
The state believes that its important to hold kids back at third grade because fourth grade is when the emphasis on reading changes towards reading to learn rather than learning to read, and they don't want students to fall behind.
