Arkansas lawmakers question implementation of third-grade literacy law

Rep. Keith Brooks (left) and Education Secretary Jacob Oliva present the LEARNS Act to the House Education Committee on Feb. 28, 2023. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate

Arkansas lawmakers continued to express concern Tuesday about a newly effective law that prohibits students who don’t meet the state’s third-grade reading standard from being promoted to fourth grade.

The new provision, which goes into effect this fall, is part of the LEARNS Act, a 2023 law that overhauled the state’s K-12 education system.

The discussion followed Education Sec. Jacob Oliva’s presentation of 2025 state test scores to a joint meeting of the House and Senate education committees Tuesday. Oliva said students that score a Level 1, the lowest level, during the 2026 assessment will be reviewed but not automatically retained because the law allows for “good-cause exemptions.” Oliva told Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, those exemptions could apply to students with disabilities.

The goal of the review, he said, is to have a discussion about students who have “very limited understanding” in third grade.

“If they were to go on to fourth grade without significant supports, they’re going to continue to struggle,” Oliva said.

Options can then be considered, he said, such as enrolling in a summer program, offering high-impact tutoring or testing for a learning disability. Education officials would also consider if the student has already been retained or if they’re an English language learner, he said.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into making that decision,” Oliva said. “It’s not saying that they automatically have to be retained. That may be the best decision for that child, but what it’s saying is that if a student does get promoted at a fourth grade without demonstrating a high level of understanding in literacy, there’s some provisions that also have to be in place.”

Only 35% of students are reading at grade level, according to the Arkansas Department of Education.

Asked by Sen. Frederick Love, D-Mabelvale, how many students scored a Level 1 in 2025, Oliva estimated around 10,000 students would be at risk. However, he noted that estimate includes students like English language learners, who may be exempt from retention. The goal of the new law, he said, is not to retain all of those students.

“We do not intend to add student parking at middle school, that is not the goal of third-grade promotion,” Oliva said. “It’s to make sure that we are identifying skills that need support early, intervening, doing our job to mitigate that number as much as we can.”

In response to Flowers questioning whether each individual student would be reviewed, Oliva said he’s not sure if the education department will be at that level this year. Because it’s a new provision, they’re “still trying to figure that out,” he said.

Oliva also assured Flowers that the rules have been promulgated and the department is “making sure we can clarify that as much as possible” by sharing information through training and webinars.

Rules implementing this new provision were added to the Right to Read Act Rules, which became effective July 1, 2024. ADE Chief of Staff Courtney Salas-Ford told the Advocate in late July that the department was drafting additional information to assist districts with implementation.

The intent was to add that information to the Right to Read Act Rules, but the department’s legal team was reviewing the information to determine whether a rule revision was necessary, Salas-Ford said.

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.