The purpose of this memo is to provide updated guidance to districts regarding implementation of Third Grade Promotion requirements beginning with the 2025–2026 school year. This includes expectations for timelines, interventions, documentation, and district responsibilities to support student readiness in literacy.

Timeline and Implementation Expectations

What Should Have Already Occurred

Districts should have:

• Communicated Third Grade Promotion requirements to families, beginning of year and midyear
• Identified students who are not on track for reading proficiency using screening and interim data
• Implemented evidence-based literacy interventions aligned to each student’s Individual Reading Plan (IRP)
• Ensured IRP documentation reflects current skills, goals, and intervention adjustments

What Should Be Happening Now (January – March)

Districts should currently be:

• Intensifying Tier II and Tier III interventions for students not meeting literacy benchmarks
• Progress monitoring at least every 2–3 weeks and adjusting instruction based on data
• Communicating with families regarding reading status, intervention plans, and promotion expectations
• Updating IRPs to reflect intervention frequency, program fidelity, and student progress
• Preparing for spring summative assessments 
• Making decisions about intersession or summer programming

What Should Happen When Summative Scores Arrive (April)

Once spring summative ELA results are released in April, districts should:

• Verify promotion eligibility for all Grade 3 students based on ELA performance
• Identify students who do not meet minimum promotion requirements (Performance Level of 1 on ELA)
• Determine students who qualify for a good cause exemption
• Notify families in writing and in person, when possible, regarding:

• performance level
• A plan for intervention programs and support
• possible retention 

• Update and finalize IRPs to document assessments, interventions, and decisions made for each student

Optional ATLAS Re-Testing Window

To help districts determine whether a student has “substantial evidence” under a good-cause exemption for promotion to fourth grade or to inform the district’s intervention and support plan the district may choose to use optional ATLAS re-testing.  This option is only for students who have participated in an intensive intervention program after receiving summative scores. 

The optional ATLAS re-testing window will be open from May 18 to June 30, 2026. Districts may offer each student who did not meet the promotion standard one opportunity to re-test during this window.  Individual summative test scores for ELA should be available within the same week as the student completes the exam. Summative ATLAS window opens April 13th. 

Third Grade Promotion — ATLAS Literacy Assessment Retake Policy

For the purposes of third grade promotion, students may be permitted to retake the ATLAS Literacy Summative Assessment during the designated retake window from May 18, 2026, through June 30,2026.

Eligibility:
Any third-grade student who scored Level 1 on the spring ATLAS Literacy Summative Assessment is eligible to participate in a retake, provided the student has received district-approved academic supports and interventions aligned to identified literacy needs prior to the retake.

Purpose of Retake:
The ATLAS Literacy Assessment retake is administered solely for the purpose of determining eligibility for third grade promotion. Retaking results shall not replace, amend, or supersede the student’s original spring summative assessment score for accountability, reporting, or state-required purposes.

Accountability Reporting:
For all state, district, and school accountability reporting requirements, the score obtained during the spring summative assessment window shall remain the official score of record.

Administration:
All retakes must be administered in accordance with state assessment guidelines and district procedures within the established retake window

 Resources for Districts & Families

State Resources

• DESE Third-Grade Promotion Webpage 
• Go Beyond the Grades Campaign: Know the Score, Grow Your Reader

• Go Beyond the Grades campaign is DESE’s family-engagement initiative designed to encourage conversations about student learning that extend beyond report card grades. It provides resources and guidance to support meaningful communication between schools and families and to promote timely academic support when needed. Go Beyond Grades

•     Approved HIT Tutor List
•    Third Grade Promotion Technical Assistance Manual
• Family Engagement Toolkit
• District Implementation Checklist

 These resources may be accessed at: Third Grade Promotion webpage

Questions regarding Third Grade Promotion may be directed to: Sandy Shepard at sandy.shepard@ade.arkansas.gov