More than one in five third-graders in a dozen Miami Valley school districts were not proficient in reading last year, according to 2010-11 report card data.

In Dayton and Jefferson Twp., about 45 percent failed to meet that state standard, while in Springfield it was about 37 percent and Middletown, 30 percent.

School districts are taking steps this summer to prepare for the new state third-grade reading guarantee, which would generally require districts to hold back third-graders starting in 2013-14 if they are not reading at grade level.

This fall, educators must begin screening all children from kindergarten through third grade by Sept. 30 and are required to develop plans for how they will provide extra remediation to those having difficulty.

Dayton Public Schools Superintendent Lori Ward — whose district already had made it a top goal to get all third-graders reading at or above grade level — said the new state mandate puts pressure on districts to make sure they’re doing the right things to ensure children are successful. But she has some concerns.

“As it’s written in law, I am concerned about the mandatory retention of students (where) you impact the life of an 8-year-old,” Ward said. “We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Other area school leaders have voiced additional concerns. Betsy Carter, senior director of learning for Middletown City Schools, said she has more questions than answers about the guarantee.

Carter recently spent an hour on the phone with an Ohio Department of Education counselor.

“I’m more concerned with what is the timing in regard to the implementation of the various elements of the program,” she said. “What needs to be in place when?”

There are also financial concerns.

“There are huge implications, particularly regarding the testing in September,” Carter said. “We’re being asked to create improvement plans, which will add layer upon layers of more specific things that our teachers are being asked to do.”

School districts will be able to compete for $13 million in grants from the state to assist them.

While the legislature’s efforts in delaying implementation and tying in funding are appreciated, the guarantee is just one piece of a larger puzzle of education reform, Springfield City Schools Superintendent David Estrop said.

“Let’s be in a position to help children be successful as opposed to just label them failures,” he said. “I don’t mind the accountability, but let’s give the kids a chance, give them the supports to help get the job done.”

The third-grade guarantee would have larger impact on districts with high numbers of low-income children, said Estrop, pointing to research that shows low-income students often come to school behind their middle- and upper-class peers.

“For children, like many of the children here in Springfield, they may start their educational experience behind,” he said. “We know that (is true) from all the research that’s been done on children who just aren’t as exposed to as extensive vocabulary lists or have as many experiences as children who live in the suburbs, as an example.”

In Northridge Local Schools, officials are thrilled about the dramatic improvement they’re seeing in third-grade reading scores since last year’s report card when 27 percent were not proficient.

Preliminary results from the new state report card to be released next month show that now only 15 percent are below the mark. Eighty-five percent are at or above reading level, which is above the state requirement of 75 percent.

“The things we’re doing are paying off,” Northridge Superintendent David Jackson said.

About 18 months ago, the district started focusing on kindergarten readiness efforts through Ready Set Soar’s Passport to Kindergarten, a community program funded by PNC Grow Up Great to help preschoolers prepare for kindergarten. It partners with schools, community organizations and parents to help youngsters build language skills critical to reading success.

“We started taking advantage of any opportunity” to provide assistance, Jackson said, noting his district now sends out books to youngsters on their birthday and includes developmental benchmarks showing parents where they should be by a certain age.

“They’ve been real impactful,” Jackson said.

The state’s third-grade reading guarantee will require schools to assign each struggling student who receives a reading improvement and monitoring plan to a teacher who either has received a passing score on a scientifically based reading instruction test or has a reading endorsement on his or her teacher’s license.

For each child retained in third grade, schools must provide intense remediation until that child is able to read at grade level — such as requiring at least 90 minutes of reading daily and other strategies like small group instruction, reduced student-teacher radios, tutoring and more frequent monitoring of progress.

Dayton Public Schools last year implemented several measures to improve reading scores, including putting an early literary specialist in each elementary building who is focused on grades K-3.

The district implemented 90-minute block reading sessions in those early grades and has invested $1 million over three years in Race to the Top funding on an online reading application, Fast ForWard, for children not reading on grade level.

Ward hopes all of that, plus new efforts brought on by the guarantee, will boost the number of third-graders reading at or above grade level.