3rd to 4th grade Model Promotion Policy
The department wants every Wisconsin student to be a capable reader by the end of 3rd grade. 2023 Wisconsin Act 20 includes comprehensive changes to early literacy instructional materials and methods, screening, diagnostic assessment, and personal reading plans to transform systems and accelerate reading achievement for every student. These policy changes are all designed to ensure every student is reading by the end of 3rd grade.
Districts, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in the Private School Choice Programs (PSCP) must consider a student’s reading ability when promoting students from 3rd to 4th grade (Wis. Stats. §§118.33(6)(a)3., (b)2m, (c)3., (cr)3.). If a student is not yet meeting reading expectations at the end of 3rd grade and the student is promoted to 4th grade, the district, independent charter school, or private school has the responsibility to continue supporting the student – beyond 3rd grade – to develop proficiency in reading.
Proficiency in reading by the end of 3rd grade is predictive of later success in school (including in postsecondary settings), the ability to earn a living, and development of social skills. This is particularly true for students experiencing poverty*. Research is also conclusive about the risks of retention, including not completing high school, lower paying jobs, emotional distress, future criminal behavior, and a lower rate of academic progress as compared to other students**.
Therefore, DPI encourages teams which include parents or caregivers to make student-by-student decisions about 3rd grade to 4th grade promotion that emphasize continued reading supports for the student rather than 3rd grade retention.
The school board of Chilton Public Schools has accepted the following Promotion Policy. This policy encourages promotion to 4th grade and providing continued reading supports for students as necessary.
Book Policy Manual
Section Special Update Act 20 - Feb. 2025
Title New Policy - Special Update Act 20 - Feb. 2025 - THIRD GRADE PROMOTION AND RETENTION: AT-RISK STUDENTS
Code po5411
Status
5411 - THIRD GRADE PROMOTION AND RETENTION: AT-RISK STUDENTS
Introduction
This policy governs the promotion of students from 3rd grade to 4th grade in accordance with 118.33, Wis. Stats. The policy applies to all students being considered for promotion from 3rd to 4th grade, effective on September 1, 2027.
The District intends to make promotion decisions based on a thorough and equitable process that considers individual student needs in reading. For any student who has not completed their personal reading plan by the end of 3rd grade, a team will determine whether retention or promotion to 4th grade, with intensive instructional support, progress monitoring, and supports to remediate the identified areas of deficiency, is in the student's best interest. The determination process will consider relevant factors such as reading proficiency, and available supports.
Definitions
“Personal Reading Plan” means a reading plan provided for five (5) year-old-kindergarten to third grade students that are identified as at risk based on a universal screening assessment or diagnostic assessment, in accordance with 118.016(5), Wis. Stats.
“Limited English-Proficient Student” means a student whose ability to use the English language is limited because of the use of a non-English language in the student's family or the student's daily, non-school surroundings, and who has difficulty in performing ordinary classwork in English as a result of such limited English proficiency.
"Completed" - means a student who has “completed” their personal reading plan if the student's parent(s)and the District agree that the student has met the goals outlined in the personal reading plan and the student scores at grade-level in reading on a summative assessment.
Promotion of Third Grade Students with Personal Reading Plan
For any student who has not completed their personal reading plan by the end of the student’s third grade year, the District will engage in a process to determine whether to promote that student to the fourth grade. The District will not promote a student from third to fourth grade who has not completed their personal reading plan by the end of third grade unless the District, in consultation with the student’s parent(s), believes retention is not in the best interest of the student.
In reaching the decision to promote or retain the student, the District will carefully consider all relevant factors, including but not limited to:
A. Whether a team of interested individuals, including the parent(s) of the student and school representatives who have knowledge of the reading instruction, supports, and interventions provided to the student, believe promotion is in the best interest of the student;
B. All relevant and available data demonstrating the student’s response or progress to reading instruction and intervention, and data demonstrating the student's progress towards meeting personal reading plan goals;
C. Why the student has not completed their personal reading plan;
D. Whether or which alternatives to retention can help support the student to achieve reading proficiency;
E. Any other factor(s) relevant in deciding whether to retain or promote a student;
F. Those factor(s) or conditions considered elsewhere in District policy or administrative guidelines pertaining to student promotion and retention;
G. Whether the student is eligible for an exception contained under this policy;
H. The potential long-term adverse risks of retention. Based on the comprehensive evaluation of factors above, the District will make one of the following determinations:
A. Promotion: Promotion to fourth grade with applicable supports and services is more appropriate than retention to third grade.
B. Promotion: The student’s non-completion of their personal reading plan was not primarily due to the student’s lack of reading proficiency.
C. Promotion: The District recommends retention with applicable supports and services but the student’s parent(s) do not agree with the District’s recommendation.
D. Retention: The District determined that, in consultation with the student’s parent(s), retention with applicable supports and services is more appropriate than promotion to fourth grade.
Promoting Students with Incomplete Personal Reading Plans
If the District promotes a third-grade student who has not completed their personal reading plan by the end of third grade, the District shall conduct all of the following post-promotion requirements:
A. In the following and subsequent school year(s) provide intensive instructional services, progress monitoring, and supports to remediate the identified areas of deficiency until the student scores at grade level in reading on a summative assessment;
B. Notify the student's parent(s), in writing, that the student did not complete their personal reading plan, including a description of the instructional services and supports that will be provided to the student to remediate the identified areas of deficiency; and
C. Provide the student with an intensive summer reading program each summer until the student scores at grade level in reading on a summative assessment.
Exceptions to Post-Promotion Requirements
The following are good cause exceptions. Any student who meets one or more of the following good cause exceptions may be exempt from the promotion policy, the intensive summer reading program, and/or the intensive reading intervention requirements:
A. The student is identified as a Limited-English Proficient student as per the definition included in this policy;
B. The student has an individualized education plan (IEP) that indicates that neither taking the universal reading screener nor the State summative assessment in reading is appropriate for the student;
C. The student scores as proficient in reading on the alternative Statewide standardized summative assessment;
D. The student has an IEP or Section 504 plan under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that indicates that the student has received intensive intervention in reading for more than two (2) years if the student continues to demonstrate a deficiency in reading and was previously retained in 5K, grades one, two, or three;
E. The student has received intensive reading interventions for two (2) or more school years, continues to demonstrate a deficiency in reading, and was previously retained in 5K, grades one, two, or three for a total of two (2) years.
Mid-Year Enrollment/Transfers
Any student who enrolls as a third-grade student late in the school term without any accompanying record of a personal reading plan shall be promoted to fourth grade under the criteria that the student did not have a personal reading plan in effect at the end of third grade.
If a student transfers into a school enrolled as a fourth-grade student and the provided records indicate the student may have met requirements to be retained in third grade (e.g., incomplete personal reading plan), the District shall provide all supports and services that the student would have otherwise received as a post-promotion requirement including intensive instructional services, progress monitoring and supports to remediate the identified areas of deficiency, parent notification, and an intensive summer reading program each summer until the pupil scores at grade-level in reading on a summative assessment.
© Neola 2025
Legal 118.016(5), Wis. Stats.
118.33(5m)(a), Wis. Stats.