A Campbell teacher joined the Ohio Education Association on Monday to urge the Ohio Senate to pass a bill that would eliminate a requirement that third-graders be held back a grade if they do not hit a certain score on a standardized reading test.

Since the 2013-14 school year, third-grade students have taken a standardized test each spring and the score they get determines if they will continue to fourth grade, or be retained in third grade. House Bill 497 would change that, so students still would take the test, but parents would work with their child’s teacher to decide if retention is best for that student. It has been approved by the Ohio House, but not the Ohio Senate.

OEA President Scott DiMauro said this is a one-size-fits-all approach that data shows does not benefit students and has not been an effective approach to raising reading scores.

One local teacher has seen how this negatively affects students firsthand. Karen Carney, a fourth-grade teacher at Campbell Elementary School, said being retained is devastating to a child’s self-esteem and compared it to wearing a scarlet letter around school. In her many years of teaching, she has taught students in first through fourth grade.

“Unfortunately, that third grade reading guarantee and that retention piece that goes with it is something that has just caused nightmares all around,” Carney said. “My first year in third grade, I overheard two little girls taking about, ‘oh my gosh did you hear that if we don’t pass this test, they won’t let us go to fourth grade?’ No 8- or 9-year-old should have to go through anything as stressful as that. School should be a place where you feel safe — where you feel people are your cheerleaders — and that’s exactly what we do here. That was an incident that completely broke my heart.”

Since the mandatory retention policy began in Ohio, Ohio State Board of Education member Christina Collins said an average of 3,628 students are retained per year. Of those, only 8 percent hit a proficient mark in reading in fourth grade.

She also said this policy disproportionately affects minority and disadvantaged students. Of those students who are retained each year, 48 percent are black, 31 percent are white and 92 percent are economically disadvantaged.

“In the business world, such minimal return on investment would be considered a failure,” Collins said.

The featured speakers agreed that retention is sometimes necessary, but that decision should be between those who know students best, their teachers and parents, not a score they earned one time. Carney pointed out that some students have anxiety and are bad test-takers, so the score they earn on one day at one time may not be reflective of their actual abilities.

The House bill is co-sponsored by Gayle Manning, R-North Ridgeville, and Phillip Robinson Jr., D-Solon. It was passed by the house June 1 by a vote of 82-10, then introduced into the Senate on June 8. Manning said she originally voted for the legislation that instated the mandatory retention policy, but since then, she has seen how it has hurt students.

“Ending mandatory retention has broad bipartisan support because it’s the right thing to do for kids,” Manning said. “These decisions should be made by parents and educators, not dictated by a score on a test.”

The Senate will take up the legislation when it returns to session later this fall.