As Delaware continues to grapple with concerningly low average test scores from students, the state Department of Education has drafted a plan that could see it take over low-performing schools or even hold back third-graders who are far behind grade-level reading and writing.

 released by the state last month, less than half of Delaware鈥檚 third through eighth graders read and do math at a proficient level. And just 18% of 11th graders were proficient in math.

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But Education Secretary Cindy Marten told state board of education members that Delaware must have a clearer, more-defined answer for what happens when a school, or its students, consistently do not show test score improvements. 

鈥淲e can鈥檛 just say, 鈥榃ell, they didn鈥檛 get it. Oh well, move on next year,鈥欌�� she said during last week鈥檚 state board meeting.

To address those concerns, Marten  that consists of five tiers, ranging in support and accountability measures for district schools and charter schools. The universal expectation is for schools to be in Tier 1, which has the lowest level of intervention. 

While additional supports are introduced at Tiers 2 and 3, state intervention begins at Tier 4 and is carried into Tier 5. 

Schools with little to no progress that are placed in Tier 4 would see 鈥渟tate-directed instructional and operational actions, leadership or staffing supports, and decisions need to be made when they鈥檙e needed,鈥� Marten said. 

Those schools would also participate in monthly implementation and performance review meetings with the Department of Education.

If none of the state-implemented supports work, the school would be placed in Tier 5 鈥� resulting in receivership, where the Delaware Department of Education would take over operation of the school and appoint leadership, until conditions improved.

Marten told board members that the goal of Tier 5 is not to close schools. Instead, a state-approved 鈥渞eceiver鈥� would address school conditions with a local school board, superintendent and principal while working on a 鈥減ublic recovery plan,鈥� she said. 

A return of full authority to local leadership and the school board would be phased in after sustained progress.

Marten also announced the possibility of holding third-graders back, a tactic that Mississippi has used to , but has also come under criticism from some as  of its test scores. Such a tactic would be a last-resort option, she said.

Delaware must first focus on early intervention screenings to address learning disabilities earlier and monitor students鈥� progress over time, Marten said. If students are not improving after receiving individualized support, then whether a student should begin fourth grade will be evaluated based on the student鈥檚 data. 

鈥淭his is not a third-grade retention plan with a literacy plan wrapped around it,鈥� she said during the meeting. 鈥淭he whole point is prevention.鈥�

The announcement came just one month after Marten told Spotlight Delaware that there will be 鈥渞eal action鈥� taken if a school continues to underperform 鈥渇or so many numbers of days, weeks, months, years.鈥� 

Marten did not specify what those actions may look like at the time.

Further determinations to be made

Marten reiterated throughout the meeting that the framework is only a draft, and more specifications still have to be made. 

Marten said 鈥渟ome鈥� of the framework would require legislative action before it is implemented, and plans to have legislation ready for the start of the new session in January. 

The department will also have to determine how long a school can remain in a specific tier and establish criteria for where schools should be placed if the framework is implemented, among other details. 

Marten also said the Delaware Department of Education will be holding more stakeholder engagement opportunities in the coming months. 

Still, she noted that 鈥渘obody鈥檚 saying we don鈥檛 need this [framework,] everybody鈥檚 saying we do need this.鈥�

In a statement to Spotlight Delaware, Lake Forest Superintendent Steven Lucas, who is also the president of the Delaware Chief School Officer鈥檚 Association, said his organization looks forward to working with Marten鈥檚 department to ensure the accountability framework 鈥渁ccurately assesses the needs and output of the public school districts, supports the work of our public school teachers, and helps to increase the college and career readiness of our graduates.鈥�

Still, some education leaders have expressed concern with Marten鈥檚 draft framework. 

Delaware State Education Association President Tameka Mays wrote in a statement to Spotlight Delaware that the state鈥檚 educators鈥� union is committed to having conversations with Marten, Gov. Matt Meyer, and legislators about plans for improving student academic performance. 

But in her statement, Mays said she and her organization have mixed feelings about Marten鈥檚 plan. 

鈥淭here are aspects we favor, such as additional instructional support for struggling students, and aspects that raise serious concern for our members and our communities, including the process leading up to a possible state takeover of our local schools and the potential for 8- and 9-year-olds to be held back a grade,鈥� Mays said in her statement. 

She said the union will also be gathering feedback from its members throughout the state in the coming weeks. 

Correction: This story originally reported that receivership for poor performance would fall to school districts, but this option would actually be designated for an individual school and not the district as a whole.

This article was previously published by .

Senior reporter Jo Napolitano spent nearly a year and a half calling 630 high schools in every state plus Washington, D.C. to test whether they would admit a 19-year-old Venezuelan transplant who spoke little English and whose education was interrupted after ninth grade. Using her own name, she told school officials the new arrival was her nephew, that he had recently moved to their district and was eager to resume his studies. 

鈥淗ector Guerrero,鈥� a stand-in for others like him, was refused 330 times, including more than 200 denials in states where he had a legal right to attend according to his age. Many schools, including those that reluctantly accepted him, tried hard to steer Hector to GED programs, adult education or community college 鈥� anything but public school.

麻豆精品鈥檚 investigation, which exposed a pervasive hostility and suspicion toward older newcomers, proved enrollment for this group is arbitrary across the map, with little consistency within states, counties or school districts: Staffers within the very same building sometimes disagreed. 

And those answering these high-stakes enrollment questions 鈥� from temporary office workers to school principals 鈥� often provided bad information. 

Almost all 50 states and D.C. have laws establishing a maximum age for public school enrollment. In 35 states and the District of Columbia, general education students can attend high school to at least 20 鈥� often to 21. 

麻豆精品 reached out to 25 states and the U.S. Capitol where Hector was within the maximum enrollment age but faced a high volume of rejections to alert education department officials to our findings.

鈥淚t is very concerning that there is confusion among school districts about this issue,鈥� said Jackie Matthews of the Illinois State Board of Education. 鈥淲e are updating our enrollment to clarify the maximum age of enrollment and are issuing additional guidance to address specific questions about enrolling newcomer students. We hope to bring greater clarity to the field.鈥�

Illinois, where students can stay in high school until age 21, had among the highest refusal rates of any state in the country 鈥� 25 out of 32 schools turned Hector away.

In Chicago alone, he was rejected by seven out of eight high schools 鈥� and was likely to be refused by one other. Among the rejections: Benito Juarez Community Academy, founded in 1977 when a group of Latina mothers in their neighborhood.

鈥淲e are concerned anytime we hear reports that a prospective student and/or family member may have been turned away from their right to a free public education,鈥� a spokeswoman for the city鈥檚 public schools, which serve , wrote in an email. 鈥淲e have shared the findings on specific schools and are doubling down on our efforts to ensure those particular schools 鈥� and all staff 鈥� understand the law and our own CPS policies.鈥�

The school system, like many other districts and state education departments around the country, noted it has long taken steps to educate staff about newcomers鈥� rights. Chicago Public Schools, which at the district level has 鈥� many arriving to the city after being bused from southern states 鈥� called it 鈥渁 matter of rightful presence.鈥�

The New Mexico Public Education Department鈥檚 general counsel drafted a memorandum to all districts and charters outlining their legal obligations to these and other students. A spokeswoman there confirmed the action is in response to 麻豆精品鈥檚 findings. The memo was sent out in early August.

鈥淪chool districts and charter schools have a responsibility to educate these students regardless of  their relative academic ability or likelihood of success,鈥� it reads. 鈥淭hey are entitled to receive as much education as other students, until graduation or equivalent, or aging out of the public school system.鈥� 

State education officials in Michigan say they need additional legislative action to guarantee students鈥� rights. Spokesman Bob Wheaton said current state law is silent on whether districts must enroll prospective students who will turn 19 or 20 during the school year 鈥� even though the law states such students are eligible to attend and school districts receive state aid for supporting them. 

鈥淪tate law says these students are eligible to attend but doesn鈥檛 say schools must enroll them,鈥� Wheaton wrote. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we support legislation to change that.鈥� 

Hector was turned down by 11 of 16 Michigan high schools with one other saying it would likely refuse him. Wheaton said a team of staffers within the department is working to explore and recommend a change to the statute鈥檚 language.

He said 麻豆精品鈥檚 investigation 鈥渟hines a light on the need for states to improve not just their policy in this area but the implementation of their policy.鈥�

Officials in D.C., where Hector was rejected by 6 out of 7 schools, also vowed to take action on the issue before the start of the academic year. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education will 鈥渆nsure staff consistently share key resources and information with any student or family that contacts a school about enrollment, so that the correct process can be followed and the student enrolled,鈥� a spokesman wrote. 

麻豆精品 called 20 high schools in Georgia, where students have a right to attend until age 21, and received 14 refusals and two likely rejections. The state education department did not pledge to take any additional steps to ensure immigrant students鈥� rights based on our findings 鈥� but the Atlanta Public Schools had a starkly different reaction. 

A district administrator who works with multilingual learners reached out to 麻豆精品 two days after our story published and said the 50,000-student school system had been “diligently educating our registrars to ensure no eligible student is denied enrollment in our district.” She said it intended to take further steps based on our findings. 

State education department officials in Minnesota, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Mississippi and South Carolina said they will reach out to all of the individual schools that refused Hector 鈥� in addition to numerous other measures 鈥� while Colorado said it will contact the districts as a whole.   

Colorado will also advise school superintendents of their responsibility toward these students at upcoming presentations and conferences, a spokesman said. It will highlight enrollment in the commissioner鈥檚 monthly communication to superintendents for August and include periodic reminders throughout the school year.

Virginia, where Hector was accepted by just 1 out of 11 schools, also pledged to act on our findings. 

鈥淵our reporting showed that a number of our school divisions could use a refresher on the current enrollment requirements, so we are using the start of the school year as an opportunity to remind all divisions of the obligations involving enrollment,鈥� state education officials said. 鈥淚t is not something we would usually send.鈥�

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction holds an annual workshop in the summer for school administrators, typically in August, to help prepare for the new school year. At this year鈥檚 gathering, a spokesperson said, the department will remind administrators of the state law about maximum age for school admittance 鈥� and ask that they ensure staffers who handle enrollment are made aware of it. 

North Dakota must admit all students who have not turned 21 by Aug. 1 of that school year.

鈥淭his reminder will certainly be verbal and I suspect there will also be a written reminder as well,鈥� the spokesperson said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure your story will be mentioned.鈥�

The department has also reached out to the two high schools that refused Hector. 

麻豆精品 contacted a minimum of five high schools in each state. Napolitano then added hundreds more in various locations across the country based primarily on the number and percentage of Hispanic and immigrant residents living there. The calls, which numbered in the thousands, were made between February 2023 and May 2024. They were recorded in those states that allow for one-party consent. 

Roughly 1.1 million people ages 18 to 20 entered the United States between 2012 and 2021, according to the Migration Policy Institute. 

麻豆精品 aimed to expose how schools handle enrollment requests for older immigrant  students in this openly xenophobic era, one in which the southern border has become a and more and more Americans say for the country despite newcomers bring. 

Conservative forces have been from school for . They now want schools to collect information on students鈥� immigration status when they enroll and charge tuition for undocumented children or the children of undocumented parents. Such steps would defy 鈥� and potentially set the stage to overturn 鈥� Plyler v. Doe, the landmark 1982 Supreme Court ruling that a child cannot be denied a public education based on immigration status. 

Texas, which has and is constantly pushing for even more , had among the worst acceptance rates in the nation: 18 of 29 schools refused to admit Hector. Two others said they were likely to turn him away. 

The Texas Education Agency said it shared 麻豆精品鈥檚 findings with the state鈥檚 Special Investigations Unit. It’s unclear what action may be taken. In Texas, where roughly is an immigrant, students can remain in high school until age 21 and, if a school district accepts them, . 

State education officials in Alaska, Hawaii and Maine 鈥� where Hector was denied by 16 of 27 total schools 鈥� did not respond to repeated calls and emails asking for comment. 

Educators and advocates from across the country reached out to 麻豆精品 on their own shortly after our June 17 investigation was published to report that these discriminatory enrollment practices were widespread 鈥� sometimes involving immigrants as young as 17.

Several said they were heartened to hear at least some states are moving quickly to re-enforce the law.

鈥淚 believe that when people are reminded of the facts and stop to think about the importance of allowing all students to pursue an education, they will push for positive change,鈥� said student immigration advocate and policy expert Timothy Boals. 

Adam Strom, of Re-Imagining Migration, said immigrant students still face barriers once they enter school, but getting through the door is a crucial first step.

鈥淭hat work begins, but does not end, with ensuring that all eligible students have unfettered access to education,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is more work to be done to ensure equitable educational opportunities, however this is a hopeful start.鈥�

This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.