§ 49-6-3115. Promotion of Students From Third Grade. [Effective on July 1, 2022. See Section Effective Until July 1, 2022.]
Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, a student in the third grade shall not be promoted to the next grade level unless the student is determined to be proficient in English language arts (ELA) based on the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “on track” or “mastered” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent Tennessee comprehensive assessment program (TCAP) test.
Notwithstanding subdivision (a)(1):
A student who is not proficient in ELA, as determined by the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “approaching” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent TCAP test may be promoted if:
The student is an English language learner and has received less than two (2) years of ELA instruction;
The student was previously retained in any of the grades kindergarten through three (K-3);
The student is retested before the beginning the next school year and scores proficient in ELA;
The student attends a learning loss bridge camp before the beginning of the upcoming school year, maintains a ninety percent (90%) attendance rate at the camp, and the student’s performance on the post-test administered to the student at the end of the learning loss bridge camp, as required under § 49-6-1502(4)(F), demonstrates adequate growth, as determined by the department; or
The student is assigned a tutor through the Tennessee accelerating literacy and learning corps (TALLC) to provide the student with tutoring services for the entirety of the upcoming school year based on tutoring requirements established by the department; and
A student who is not proficient in ELA, as determined by the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “below” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent TCAP test may be promoted if:
The student is an English language learner and has received less than two (2) years of ELA instruction;
The student was previously retained in any of the grades kindergarten through three (K-3);
The student retested before the beginning the next school year and scores proficient in ELA; or
The student attends a learning loss bridge camp before the beginning of the upcoming school year and maintains a ninety percent (90%) attendance rate at the camp, and is assigned a tutor through the TALLC to provide the student with tutoring services for the entirety of the upcoming school year based on tutoring requirements established by the department.
A student who is promoted to the fourth grade pursuant to subdivision (a)(2)(A)(v) or (a)(2)(B)(iv), must show adequate growth on the fourth grade ELA portion of the TCAP test, as determined by the department, before the student may be promoted to the fifth grade.
Notwithstanding subdivision (a)(3)(A), a student shall not be retained in the fourth grade more than once.
Subject to available funding, and to the extent authorized by federal law, LEAs and public charter schools may use temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) program funds to cover up to fifty percent (50%) of the costs associated with providing tutoring services for students pursuant to subdivision (a)(2)(B)(iv).
Subsection (a) does not supersede an LEA’s or public charter school’s obligation to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. § 794).
LEAs and public charter schools shall not retain a student based on the student’s disability or suspected disability.
The state board of education shall promulgate rules to establish an appeal process, to be administered by the department, for a student who is identified for retention in third grade pursuant to subdivision (a)(1) based on the student’s achieving a performance level rating of “approaching” on the ELA portion of the student’s most recent TCAP test. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
