Good Cause for Florida Third-Grade Promotion Exemptions

Florida recognizes six good cause exemptions for third grade promotion that allow a child who scored Level 1 on the FAST ELA Reading assessment to move on to fourth grade anyway. They cover English language learners with less than two years in ESOL, students whose IEP says statewide testing is inappropriate, students who pass an approved alternative assessment, students with a qualifying work portfolio, previously retained students with disabilities who still can’t reach Level 2 after intensive instruction, and students who have already been held back for two or more years total. Each one requires evidence, a teacher recommendation, principal review, and a written decision from the district superintendent.¹

The promotion requirement itself is a Level 2 or higher on the third administration (PM3) of the Grade 3 FAST ELA Reading assessment.² Score Level 1, and retention is mandatory unless one of the six exemptions below applies.¹ There is also a summer FAST administration that gives the child one more chance before the decision becomes final.

English Language Learners With Less Than Two Years in ESOL

The first exemption applies to a student who has had less than two years of instruction in an English for Speakers of Other Languages program.¹ The clock starts the day the child first enrolled in any school in the United States.

Check that the school’s ESOL enrollment date matches your child’s actual first day in a U.S. school. If your child was never properly identified or placed into ESOL services, that gap in the record can complicate the exemption even when the child plainly qualifies.

Students Whose IEP Excludes Them From the Statewide Assessment

The second exemption covers students with disabilities whose Individual Education Plan states that participation in the statewide assessment program is not appropriate.¹ The IEP is the key document. It must say, in substance, that standard statewide testing is inappropriate given the student’s disability.

If the IEP doesn’t currently include that language and you believe it should, you can request an IEP team meeting at any time. If you disagree with a retention or placement decision for a child with a disability, federal law gives you the right to a due process hearing, with the right to present evidence, bring counsel, and appeal.³

A Passing Score on an Approved Alternative Assessment

The third exemption lets a student prove reading ability on a different standardized test. Florida’s Department of Education publishes the list of approved assessments and the percentile the child must hit on each one:⁴

SAT-10 — 45th percentile
TerraNova — 50th percentile
ITBS — 50th percentile
NWEA MAP — 50th percentile
Star Reading — 50th percentile
i-Ready — 50th percentile
Istation — 50th percentile
Achieve3000 LevelSet — 50th percentile
Amira — 50th percentile
Edmentum Exact Path — 50th percentile

The SAT-10 cutoff is lower than the others. Many schools already administer one of these tests for routine progress monitoring, so your child may have a qualifying score on file without a separate testing session. Ask the reading coach or testing coordinator which assessments the school already gives and whether a recent score meets the cutoff.

A Qualifying Student Portfolio

When neither the FAST nor an alternative assessment produces a passing score, a portfolio of classroom work can carry the promotion. It has to show the student performing at least at Level 2 on the statewide ELA standards.¹ Florida’s administrative code spells out what the portfolio must contain:⁵

Only independent classroom work. No homework, no group projects.
A balanced mix of literary and informational passages, each between 100 and 700 words, averaging about 500.
At least eight assessed items per B.E.S.T. ELA standard tested on the Grade 3 assessment, with the student demonstrating 70 percent mastery across those items.
Signatures from both the teacher and the principal certifying that the portfolio accurately reflects the student’s reading skills.

Schools must start building the portfolio as soon as a third grader is identified as at risk of retention, or when a parent requests it, whichever comes first.¹ If collection hasn’t started for your child, put the request in writing. Earlier starts produce stronger portfolios because it takes time to accumulate enough qualifying samples.

Previously Retained Students With an IEP or 504 Plan

The fifth exemption targets students with an IEP or Section 504 plan who do take the statewide FAST (unlike the second exemption), still score below Level 2, and have received more than two years of intensive reading or ELA instruction. On top of all that, the student must have been previously retained in prekindergarten, kindergarten, first, second, or third grade.¹ All four pieces have to line up: a qualifying plan, participation in the statewide test, two-plus years of intensive intervention, and a prior retention.

Documentation is everything here. The IEP or 504 plan should reflect the intensive reading services the student has actually received, and school records need to confirm the prior retention. If the school disputes whether the intervention was intensive enough, parents of a child with a 504 plan can request an impartial hearing under Section 504, with the right to review educational records and be represented by counsel.⁶

Students Already Retained Two or More Years

The sixth exemption applies to any student who has received intensive reading intervention for two or more years, still has a reading deficiency, and was previously retained in kindergarten through third grade for a combined total of at least two years.¹ Unlike the fifth exemption, this one does not require an IEP or 504 plan.

The statute also contains a hard ceiling: a student may not be retained more than once in third grade. If your child has already repeated third grade once and still scores below Level 2, this exemption prevents a second third-grade retention.

How a Good Cause Exemption Gets Approved

None of these exemptions apply automatically. The student’s teacher starts the process by documenting which specific exemption fits and gathering the supporting evidence: ESOL enrollment records, the IEP or 504 plan, alternative test scores, the portfolio, or retention history. The teacher then submits that package to the school principal with a written recommendation for promotion.¹

The principal reviews the file and decides whether the evidence actually supports promotion. If it does, the principal writes a separate recommendation and sends the complete package to the district superintendent. The superintendent makes the final decision in writing. That written decision is the official record of your child’s grade placement for the following year.

Keep your own copies of everything you submit. If the school misplaces a portfolio sample or an IEP amendment, your records let you reconstruct the case quickly instead of starting over.

What to Do Now

Figure out which exemption actually fits your child’s situation before you talk to the school, because the evidence you’ll need to gather is different for each one. If you think the ESOL exemption applies, pull together immigration or enrollment documents showing when your child first entered a U.S. school. If an IEP or 504 plan is involved, request a copy of the current plan and read what it says about statewide testing and intensive services. If you’re hoping for the alternative-assessment route, ask which approved tests the school already administers and when the next one is scheduled. If a portfolio is the only path left, request in writing that the school begin collecting one immediately.

Florida law requires the school to notify you in writing as soon as your child is identified with a substantial reading deficiency, and that letter must explain the interventions in place, the additional supports planned, and what happens if the deficiency isn’t resolved by year’s end.¹ Keep that letter and every monthly update that follows. Those documents are also your evidence trail if you later need to argue the “two or more years of intensive instruction” piece of the fifth or sixth exemption.

If No Exemption Applies

A retained third grader can still be promoted to fourth grade mid-year once they demonstrate reading at or above grade level. Every Florida district is required to have a mid-year promotion policy.¹ For promotions on or before November 1, the evidence can be a Level 2 or higher on a beginning-of-year screening, a passing alternative assessment, or a qualifying portfolio. After November 1, the student has to show reading achievement equivalent to where fourth graders are at that point in the year.⁷ Retention in third grade, when it happens, isn’t necessarily a full year.

1
The Florida Statutes. Florida Code 1008.25 – Public School Student Progression
2
Florida Department of Education. 2025-26 FAST Fact Sheet Grades 3-10
3
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Subpart E – Procedural Safeguards Due Process Procedures for Parents and Children
4
Florida Department of Education. Third Grade Guidance
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-1.094221 – Alternative Standardized Reading Assessments and Student Portfolio
6
U.S. Department of Education. Frequently Asked Questions: Section 504 Free Appropriate Public Education
7
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R 6A-1.094222 – Standards for Mid-Year Promotion of Retained Third Graders