Columbus City Schools Launches Third Grade Reading Blitz

Columbus City Schools officials are going door-to-door this week. They’re urging the families of third graders who still have not passed the state’s third grade reading assessment test to enroll their students in summer school or other help sessions. “The focus is just to ensure that every child has the opportunity to get into summer school and to get that support that they need to get those chances. There’s two last chances to pass the third grade reading assessment,â€? said Jeff Warner, a spokesperson for Columbus City Schools. At a Tuesday press conference, CCS superintendent Dan Good said officials won’t give up on the 26 percent of third graders who have failed the state-mandated reading test. Without passing the test, those students cannot advance to the 4th Grade. Good said school employees and volunteers are contacting parents by phone as well as going to students’ homes to tell them about reading assistance programs available this summer. “Part of going to their door is to remind them that you still have an opportunity to re-take that assessment even if you don’t participate in our summer school program. The goal is really to give them the maximum opportunities to increase their cognitions so that they’re successful in that new assessment,â€? Good said. Schools officials call the effort the Summer School Third Grade Reading Blitz. Exactly 959 3rd graders in Columbus City Schools have failed to achieve the 392 cut score on the reading portion of the Ohio Achievement Assessment test. They have two more chances to pass this summer or they’ll be required to repeat the 3rd grade.