Ohio's Third Grade Reading Guarantee

Enacted in 2012, Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee for public school districts and community schools is codified in Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3313.608. 

The Third Grade Reading Guarantee is a program to identify students from kindergarten through grade 3 that are behind in reading. Schools must provide help and support to make sure students are on track for reading success by the end of third grade.

Components of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee:

• A child’s school has to determine how well he or she is reading at the beginning of each school year from kindergarten through grade 3. 
• If a child is not reading as well as expected, the school must create a reading improvement and monitoring plan (RIMP). 
• Parents/Families should be involved in creating the plan which describes the help and interventions the child will receive to get on track to reading on grade level. 
• If a child is not reading as expected by the end of third grade, the school must retain the child in third grade when the next school year begins. Exceptions are: 
  • the child is learning to speak English;
  • the child is on an Individualized Education Program (IEP) and the IEP says he or she cannot repeat grade 3 because of reading; 
  • the child has received reading help for at least two years and has repeated a grade before;
  • the child shows on certain tests, other than a state reading test, that he or she is reading on grade level. 

Click here for more information about Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee.