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Posted: Jan 23, 2019 3:16 PMUpdated: Jan 23, 2019 3:47 PM

Owasso Senator Files Bill to Assure Student Success

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Garrett Giles

Owasso’s Senator J.J. Dossett has filed legislation to assure students, parents and educators that the results of a single high-stakes reading test won’t cause children to be held back. Dossett, a former teacher, said when the Reading Sufficiency Act was originally approved in 2011, the idea was to use a federally-mandated reading test to determine whether kids could continue to the fourth grade.

Dossett says several states turned to using the high-stakes test to decide whether children should be held back from the fourth grade a few years ago.  He says a 14-year study released last year by Texas A&M shows students held back in elementary school are nearly three times more likely than their peers to drop out of high school.

The RSA was set to kick in during the 2013-2014 school year but outcry from teachers and parents prompted the Oklahoma Legislature to amend the law, ultimately overriding a governor’s veto to do so.  The Legislature has amended RSA three more times since then. Currently, the law allows districts to use screening assessments, reading portfolios and good cause exemptions to enable students to continue to the fourth grade.


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