House Votes To End Social Promotion

The House voted today to end social promotion in Oklahoma schools.

That ensures that grade school students have mastered reading before they advance to more challenging courses.

“When a child is promoted to the fourth grade without having mastered reading, we are setting that child up for failure,” said Rep. Sally Kern, an Oklahoma City Republican and former school teacher. “For Oklahoma’s children to succeed throughout life, it is crucial that we ensure they have mastered reading skills.”

Senate Bill 346, by Senator Clark Jolley and Kern, would require students entering first grade in the 2011-2012 school year to master grade-appropriate reading skills by the end of third grade in order to be promoted to the fourth grade.

Under the legislation, if a reading deficiency is not remedied by the end of third grade, as demonstrated by scoring at the limited knowledge level on annual assessments, the student must be retained in third grade.

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