3rd graders who don't meet reading standards may not move on to 4th grade unless parents intervene, per new Maryland policy

MARYLAND, USA — With the start of the 2026-2027 school year, third graders who do not meet reading level standards could be held back unless parents intervene, according to a new policy from the Maryland Board of Education. The policy comes as literacy rates in the state have continued to decline. 

The policy passed in a Tuesday session with an 11-1 vote. 

"It is the ultimate goal of the General Assembly that every student read at or above grade level by the end of grade 3," reads the comprehensive literacy policy from the Maryland Board of Education.

Officials began drafting the policy in June, creating three previous versions that were released for public comment and then revised. The fourth draft was the one voted into policy by the board on Tuesday. The policy will be reviewed annually and may be changed based on data and public feedback. 

Using data, officials found that early intervention is key. In one example, more than 70% of kindergarten students in Caroline County were at risk for reading difficulties. With early intervention, that gap dropped to 29.5% at risk by the end of the year. 

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor spoke on the new policy at a public meeting Wednesday evening after a parent asked how many of the county's fourth-graders entered reading below grade level. In the explanation, the superintendent called the policy very high stakes.

"The State Education Department policy committee just recently endorsed a component of the state literacy plan which would retain every third grader who didn't meet grade-level reading expectations," Taylor explained. "

Being held back from moving on to fourth grade would be the default in the new policy, but parents could opt out and insist their child advance grades. 

"I got a lot of, a lot of questions, a lot of concerns about that myself in terms of long-term impact and how, how to manage that they did have a parent opt-out component that they also endorsed with that," Taylor said. "I can't say I'm 100% on board with that idea or that notion."

As for how many fourth grade students are reading below grade level in Montgomery County? Taylor estimates the amount to be around half. 

"I don't know, but I would venture to say this, it's probably not great. If I were to guess, I would probably say, it's in the 50% range, which is alarming," he said. 

He added that while that number is disquieting, what is even more disquieting for him is that the progress doesn't appear to substantially move in any positive direction until high school. 

"So there's a lot of concern on what that would look like and [the] kind of the balloon impacts," he explained. "I'm not sure that really anyone is ready for that if that ends up being what comes to pass."