OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 117 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 117’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the House
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Manning and Robinson
Effective Date:
Allison Schoeppner, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, eliminates mandatory student retention
under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee.
 Requires only one administration of the third-grade English language arts assessment
per year.
 Expands the grade bands for which school districts and chartered nonpublic schools are
required to provide reading intervention services.
 Expands from three to five the grades in which the State Board of Education must
prescribe standards for the teaching of phonics and in-service training programs for
teachers.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Retention under the Third Grade Reading Guarantee
Beginning with students who enter the third grade in the 2023-2024 school year, the bill
eliminates the mandatory retention of third grade students who do not attain the required
score on the third-grade English language arts achievement assessment under the Third Grade
Reading Guarantee.1 In addition, beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the bill requires
only one administration of the third-grade English language arts assessment per year.2
1 R.C. 3301.163 and 3313.608(A)(3).
2 R.C. 3301.0711(B)(1).
June 23, 2023
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Remediation and intervention plans
The bill generally maintains the requirement that public (school districts, community
schools, and STEM schools) and private (chartered nonpublic) schools offer intervention and
remediation services to students reading below grade level.3
However, the bill makes the following changes to intervention and remediation services
requirements for both public and private schools:4
1. Increases from three to five the grades for which schools are required to provide
reading intervention services;
2. Requires public schools to offer reading improvement and monitoring plans for students
in grades four or five who have been identified as having reading skills below grade
level;
3. Requires private schools to provide intensive reading instruction services, as determined
appropriate by the school;
4. Requires schools to offer reading improvement and monitoring plans or, for private
schools, intensive reading instruction services, for students who were retained in any of
grades kindergarten through three and received remediation services but continue to
read below grade level.
Phonics instruction
The bill expands from kindergarten through three to kindergarten through five the
grades for which the State Board of Education must prescribe standards for the teaching of
phonics.5 The bill commensurately expands the grade bands for which the State Board must
provide in-service training programs for teachers on the use of phonics as a technique in the
teaching of reading.
Background
The Third Grade Reading Guarantee is a program to identify students in grades
kindergarten through three who are reading below grade level. Schools must administer
diagnostic assessments in reading for grades kindergarten through three to identify students
who are reading below grade level and to provide intervention services for those students prior
to taking the third-grade English language arts assessment. Currently, if a student does not
attain a level of achievement determined by the Department of Education on the third-grade
English language assessment, unless otherwise exempted, that student may not be promoted
to the fourth grade.
3 R.C. 3301.163(D) and 3313.608(A)(3).
4 R.C. 3301.163(D) and 3313.608(D).
5 R.C. 3301.07(M).
P a g e |2 H.B. 117
As Passed by the House
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
A similar guarantee applies to students attending chartered nonpublic schools with state
scholarships.
Both provisions are amended by the bill to eliminate mandatory student retention.
Promotion under the state report card
As described above, the bill eliminates mandatory retention under the Third Grade
Reading Guarantee; however, it maintains certain promotion-related provisions with regard to
the state report card as enacted by H.B. 82 of the 134th General Assembly. It is not clear how
those report card measures will be affected by the bill’s provisions.
For a full description of the relevant provisions please see pages 11 and 12 of the Final
Analysis of H.B. 82 of the 134th General Assembly (PDF) accessible at:
http://www.legislature.ohio.gov/ for a discussion of the “Early Literacy” report card component
and “Reported-only data.”
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 03-16-23
Reported, H. Primary & Secondary Education 05-10-23
Passed House (89-4) 06-21-23
ANHB0117PH-135/ts
P a g e |3 H.B. 117
As Passed by the House