January 26, 2025
Sen. Dave Murman, Chairperson
Sen. Margo Juarez
Sen. Jana Hughes, Vice Chairperson
Sen. Dan Lonowski
Sen. Danielle Conrad
Sen. Glen Meyer
Sen. Megan Hunt
Sen. Rita Sanders
Chairman Murman and members of the Education Committee:
The Lincoln Public Schools opposes LB 1050 the bill to retain 3rd graders due to performance on a literacy measurement. The LPS Teaching and Learning Department works to ensure each student here has every opportunity to learn, grow and reach their full potential.
- Mandating that 3rd graders be retained if they are not yet reading on grade level may be well-intentioned, but it might do more harm than good. Repeating a grade does not automatically improve learning. Often, students are asked to try again with the same materials or approach that didn’t work for them previously, while being separated from friends and labeled as “behind.” This can negatively impact their confidence, motivation, and social well-being throughout their educational journey. A single score or a couple of assessments cannot capture the many reasons a child may struggle with reading, such as language development, learning differences, or limited early opportunities, and rigid laws remove the professional judgment needed to see the whole child.
- We believe that instead of retention, we should continue investing in early screening, strong K-3 literacy instruction, small-group and one-to-one interventions, reading specialists, summer and after-school programs, teacher/admin. professional learning, and family partnerships (reading at home, attendance support, for instance) so students receive timely, supportive help while continuing to grow academically with their peers.
- The State of Nebraska already has a framework in place to diagnose and support our students through NeMTSS. Universal Screening benchmark assessments and summative assessments identify students with reading needs, diagnostic assessments identify areas of weakness, so we already know who those students are and what supports they need. Progress-monitoring assessments are used on a frequent basis when students are receiving intervention to monitor if students are making gains in reading.
- The Nebraska Department of Education is in the early stages of their federally supported Comprehensive Literacy Development Program. This support for the science of reading robust training for Nebraska educators is showing early signs of success and should be allowed to be fully implemented and supported before we make a huge systemic change.
- We understand that there are exceptions for students on an IEP or with a 504 plan and we are concerned that requests for those types of plans and testing for eligibility for those types of plans may increase. We also have questions about those students who may struggle a bit with reading but exceed expectations in Math. What is the curriculum expectation for that student who performs well beyond the third-grade level in Math if they must repeat the grade level because they missed a cut off in reading?
For the above stated reasons, Lincoln Public Schools is in opposition to LB 1050 and we request that these questions and concerns be considered when making a decision to move this bill forward.
Sincerely,
Brad Jacobsen
Associate Superintendent of Civic Engagement
Lincoln Public Schools
