Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment DRA Independent Tester

am looking to get my first grade daughter tested independently outside of the school for reading as I was not convinced on the DRA assessment she got from her school. We are in Fairfax County, VA so I am not sure if it is possible to find someone who administer DRA independently but if not heard that there are other reading tests that can be used by, testers independently and provide a corresponding DRA level. So I wanted to check with you if you know anyone who could provide the test independently.

For what it's worth, where we are, the teachers are not permitted to continue the DRA test past the end of one grade level above the student's current grade level - that's a pretty low ceiling. In other words, for a gifted kid, it's not likely to be an accurate reflection of reading level.

How necessary is it that you have an "accurate" DRA score? What would you do with it? For advocacy purposes, I'd probably look for one-on-one achievement testing rather than re-doing DRA without the ceiling.

Perhaps one of the local tutoring centers (Sylvan, Kumon, etc.) would be able to give a DRA test.

Would the DRA level from the DORA online test be acceptable to your school?

I am not sure about the DRA but if you just need a measure of reading level and comprehension then I second the DORA online test from lets go learn that MumOfThree mentioned.

DD has tested on it twice before. My mom's school uses it, which is where I first heard f it, but parent's can too.

Ceilings are not an issue. DD who is supposed to be in K this year recently tested. I logged on to the computer after she completed it independently, and viewed the report. She maxed out high frequency words, spelling was beginning 4th grade, word recognition tested at the end of 12th grade, oral vocab end of 11th grade, and reading comp was end of 9th grade. Overall, I think it gives me a good look at where she is and would since many schools use it, maybe your school would be open to looking at it.

The other suggestion would be independent achievement testing. We are having that done along with the IQ portion in the spring, but the DORA is definitely a less expensive option if you just want levels or something simple to show the school.

edit- of and it gave me a DRA level of "max 80" for her, although I do not know what those mean

I think I will be the lone nay sayer about DOA. I gave it to my son the spring before kindergarten. He scored very high in most areas. As in maxed out oral vocab and word recognition. I was all excited that he would pass the exam for early entrance to first grade. This test said he was overall at a fourth grade reading level. Needless to say, he was at the 79th percentile of those kids leaving kinder/entering first grade. He was not early entranced to first grade.

hmmmm interesting. I definitely don't think it's the end all be all, like I mentioned, why we are doing private testing soon. But I do know for DD it is pretty accurate on reading level at least. When she took the test right before she turned 4 and then saw the schools developmental psy, her reading comp on the test was 3rd grade and he measured her at 3rd grade as well with his assessment. As for spelling, DD is doing 3rd grade spelling in homeschool this year and pretests right on at least 3/4 of the words each week, so I think that was about accurate. But I wouldn't put all my stock into it as it is a computer program that is fairly brief and their for a few right guesses can definitely skew results I believe.

The DRA is somewhat subjective because the child has to answer questions that the teacher might not think are complete enough. There is a writing portion once you get past a certain level, and kids who don't like to write might not writie enough. Also, the child must read aloud a portion of the text. Shyness and learning disabilities could figure in there. If you know a teacher who uses the DRA (sometimes teachers tutor if you don't have a personal friend), he or she might test your child. Also, the DRA scores include how fast a child reads. Kids with slow processing (some kids just do everything slow) and kids from the deep south don't always read fast enough.

One of my dc was testing at grade level in 5th grade, but his Lexile score was at a post-secondary level. What that means is he could read and comprehend on a higher level than he was willing/able to write about.