IREAD scores are up, and officials are already attributing that to laws requiring students to be held back. I don’t know how true that is, and to be honest, when I was a teacher, I was never a big fan of retention. However, if there’s going to be a policy around holding students back, it makes the most sense to focus on reading in third grade.

It’s important to understand that third grade is not just an arbitrary age. Third grade marks a key transition point. Up until fourth grade, the curriculum focuses on teaching students how to read. After that, it assumes they already can. Students are shifting from learning to read to reading to learn. That means a student who advances to fourth grade without being a capable reader is at risk of falling even further behind—with even less support.

I have reservations about holding older students back. But there is usually less social stigma with retention in third grade. In my experience, many students don’t even fully realize they’ve been held back. Holding them back then not only saves some social pain down the line but it also allows them to learn to read in the natural setting they are supposed to learn. One Harvard study shows that retention in early grades like third grade can lead to academic gains and better preparedness for high school, especially when paired with remedial support.

I know this policy has been controversial. I’ve had multiple conversations with parents who were not in favor of it, and I understand their concerns. But of all the policies we could be debating right now, this doesn’t strike me as the one to worry about most.