Parents Sue After Third-Grade Honors Students 'Failed' Over Standardized Tests

A group of parents in Florida who chose not to have their children take the state's mandatory standardized reading test are suing because many of the kids, including some honors-level students, were ordered to repeat the third grade.

At issue are varying interpretations across several counties of just what refusal to take the test means to students.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Karen Gievers held a hearing on the suit on Friday and said she may rule as early as next week on the case, the Washington Post reported. The lawsuit filed earlier this month asks for an emergency order preventing school districts from holding back the students, whose full numbers are not known. The lawsuit was brought against state education officials as well as the school boards in Orange, Hernando, Osceola, Sarasota, Pasco, Broward and Seminole counties.

The third-grade retention law, passed under Gov. Jeb Bush, requires that students participate in the standardized assessment and demonstrate proficiency in reading in order to be promoted to third grade, the Tampa Bay Times explains. Students who fail the standardized assessment can be promoted through a portfolio of class work, but the lawsuit claims the Florida Department of Education issued "conflicting information" for students who earned no score, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The lawsuit claims that the state rules were interpreted in different ways by all of Florida's 67 school districts. The confusing nature of the state rules is evident. One plaintiff said her daughter is being retained because she did not have a test score and the daughter's teacher was not informed of the criteria for developing a student portfolio.

In June, Manatee schools superintendent Diana Greene changed her position on the retention after reaching out for guidance to state education officials. In a statement, Greene said all third-grade students who do not have a sufficient test score as well as those who had no score would be allowed to use exemptions to be promoted to the fourth grade. Greene noted in her statement that leaving all 67 districts to interpret the law is a "gross abdication of responsibility" on the part of state officials.

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