In June 2012, the Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee was enacted into law to ensure that all students are reading proficiently and on grade level by the end of their third grade year. The law requires schools to:
- Assess the reading abilities of all students in grades K–3 beginning with the 2012–2013 school year by September 30, 2012
- Develop reading improvement and monitoring plans for all students who are reading below grade level
- Provide research-based reading interventions to meet students' specific reading difficulties
Students entering third grade in 2013–2014 may be held back at the end of third grade if they are not reading on grade level.
ORC is working hard to continue providing teachers with necessary resources to help raise students' reading achievement. To that end, we have created Literacy K–5. Here you can:
- Search our K–2 and 3–5 bookshelves by title, topic, and Common Core strand for books to meet your specific needs
- Search our Reading Strategies section for instructional ideas that improve literacy skills
- Find lesson and unit plans, assessment ideas, video demonstrations, and professional readings organized by skills (comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, and vocabulary) in our Reading section
- Read Policy into Practice briefs that focus on literacy teaching and learning and support efforts to achieve the Ohio Third Grade Reading Guarantee
To help schools meet the screening requirement, we have created a
3GRG Toolkit that comprises free and fee-based screening and diagnostic tools, intervention strategies, and instructional supports such as online, interactive games students can play to build skills. This collection of tools is a good starting point as schools begin implementing the Guarantee this school year.