Pilot program comes as 1 in 4 third-graders fail state reading test

DES MOINES - With a quarter of Iowa third-graders failing reading tests and soon facing a state law that could hold them back a year, Gov. Terry Branstad on Monday announced a summer pilot program to help struggling youngsters read better.

All but about $600,000 of the $1.9 pilot project - which will include some Eastern Iowa schools - is paid for with private donations.

When the pilot program is fully implemented, it will offer an opportunity for young students who are not meeting certain reading benchmarks to take a summer course and avoid being retained in third grade.

'This is an important step in learning how we can do more to identify struggling readers,” Branstad said at his weekly news conference.

About 8,000 public school third-graders - nearly one in four - did not read proficiently on the Iowa Assessments in either 2014 or 2015.

Under a state law, beginning in spring 2017, any child who does not pass the reading test by the end of third grade must either attend a summer reading program or repeat third grade.

Advocates say the threat of retention - also known as holding students back, flunking or repeating a grade - is what it takes to make sure students get the help they need. Others worry that retention can actually make things worse, increasing the likelihood a student will drop out of high school.

Deborah Reed, director of the University of Iowa's Reading Research Center, said the pilot project will test how summer reading programs work, which are most effective and how feasible and cost-effective they might be for school districts.

Reed said the typical summer reading program will last six weeks at roughly three hours per day and four to five days per week.

Starting in 2017, Iowa students in danger of being held back in third grade for reading deficiencies may advance to fourth grade by completing the summer reading program.

The students will not be required to meet any achievement benchmarks in the program in order to advance.

State money to pay for those programs, however, has not been earmarked.

Iowa education officials last month warned that not funding the summer reading program would create a 'disaster” in 2017, the Des Moines Register reported. The state Education Department requested $9 million.

But Branstad said he would ask the Iowa Legislature for it next year in his budget request.

In the meantime, the mostly privately funded program is intended to see what works and inform development of such a permanent program starting in summer 2017, when districts will be required to provide them.

About 40 districts so far are taking part in the pilot, including Cedar Rapids, Marion, Central Community and West Liberty in Eastern Iowa, and the governor's office said that might grow.

Among the private donations for this summer's pilot project were $750,000 from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation, $300,000 from an anonymous donor and $75,000 from MidAmerican Energy.

'Investing in the next generation of leaders has always been a priority for the foundation,” Jacobson said in a statement. 'Our focus on children and education dates back to the organization's founding in 1976. It's an honor for the Jacobson Foundation to provide support to organizations that are making a difference in the future of our students, our communities and the state of Iowa.”

The Richard O. Jacobson Foundation was established in 1976 to provide support for medical, humanitarian and educational programs. Jacobson founded the Jacobson Companies, a Des Moines corporation that operates public warehouses and trucking and packaging businesses, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Iowa Department of Education contributed $250,000 and the Board of Regents $100,000.