5th Grade Tutors Now Mandated For Reading

The Tennessee Legislature has expanded its work to get students statewide reading at a higher level, requiring school systems to provide tutors for fifth grade students not meeting reading proficiency.

Overton County Schools District Testing Coordinator Kim Dillon said systems must provide options for students who are not meeting standards. That could include keeping the student in the fourth grade or providing the tutor for the entire fifth grade year. Dillon said retaining a student is a tough decision.

“By the time they get in fourth grade and fifth grade we don’t like to retain,” Dillon said. “I’m a strong believer in if you are lacking skills then you need to be held back in the grade that teaches those skills rather than in fifth grade where you are not going to get those skills.”

Dillon said the state is not providing funds for the tutors and schools are only allowed a one-tutor to three-student ratio. Dillon said it is not an issue now for Overton County Schools however, if more parents opt their children into tutoring, the school system would have to find funding to pay for more tutors to stay within the ratio.

“I do feel like if we are going to have to follow this path of third-grade retention, fourth-grade tutoring, and fifth-grade tutoring the state will have to help us as far as funding is concerned,” Dillon said.

Dillon said the school system will not decide to retain or provide tutoring for a child as it is solely up to the parents.

“If a parent strongly believes that it is going to help that child as far as maturity and things like that then obviously we would go that route,” Dillon said. “Typically if a parent is not for it then we are not for it either.”

Dillon said the system already has personnel in tutoring positions with grant funding. Dillon said tutoring has been a big help in improving the performance of students.

“We have had some success with turning and I definitely am for it,” Dillon said. “However, personnel-wise it does make it very difficult.”