INDIANAPOLIS—On Monday, Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington) introduced an amendment to Senate Bill 1 to require the Indiana Department of Education to identify every incoming enrolled kindergarten student and notify parents or guardians about the third-grade retention requirement. 

“I’m thankful that this important amendment was accepted into SB 1. If this Legislature is going to mandate the retention of third graders who do not pass IRead-3, we have a duty to communicate that information to parents as quickly as possible. Parents deserve to be notified about a state policy that has been shown to cause adverse outcomes for kids while failing to actually show improvements in reading proficiency.  

“By notifying parents when a child is in kindergarten about our retention policy, we ensure they are looped in as soon as possible about an educational issue that has the potential to massively impact their child’s educational, emotional and social development. I’m thankful that my colleagues agreed with the need to add this essential provision to the bill: parents deserve to know this information so they can take measures to ensure their child is on track.”