In 2012, Ohio lawmakers enacted the Third Grade Reading Guarantee, a significant early literacy reform package. Under the initiative, schools must administer diagnostic reading assessments to students in grades K–3. If students are identified as off track, schools must notify their parents and create improvement plans. The policy also requires schools to retain students who, based on state assessments or state-approved alternative exams, aren’t meeting reading standards by the end of third grade. To improve their reading skills, schools must provide such students with intensive interventions such as summer reading programs or tutoring.

In the ten years since the Guarantee became law, there have been multiple attempts to water down or eliminate the retention provision. The latest effort, House Bill 117, aims to repeal the requirement by prohibiting districts from holding students back based on their scores on state assessments. Backers of the bill argue that the state should be emphasizing literacy instead of standardized tests, and claim that retention has a negative impact on students.

[There is nothing sadder or more detrimental to a full life and pursuit of the American Dream than being unable to read. The fact that it is a fate being suffered by incalculable numbers of American children in this day and age is unconscionable. ~ Beege]