Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Reading Assessment at school incorrect

Hello,

We put our son in 1/2 day Spanish Immersion Kindergarten last fall foolishly thinking it would be more challenging for him than English. We know he is bright and at the beginning of the year shared with his teacher which books he was reading to himself, all at around a 5th-6th grade level just so she would know. We didn't know how else to advocate in a Spanish classroom! At conferences in October we also shared what he was reading and got the smile and nod. We also asked for harder math in class, as our son tested in the 98% on district tests and she would not do it. I offered my time in the classroom. She said she'd get back to me. She never did. This pushed us harder into private testing. In February 2014 we had him privately tested with the WISC IV and WJ Achievement. He has a high GAI and the WJ reading and comprehension is at a 5th grade level.
I recently discovered, by word of mouth, that his school was running a pilot program for K and 1st grade this year for reading and math. Out son was assessed last fall in school, without our knowledge, and scored in the 2nd grade level. I believe it was the Fountas and Pinnell. He was reading 2nd grade readers at 4! If the school had given us this information we have advocated much sooner. He has missed out on months of enrichment. He taught himself to read by memorizing whole words and paragraphs. He cannot do phonics so if that is part of this test I get it, but shouldn't the "Reading Specialist" be aware of how different kids learn to read?? We are livid with his teacher who we would have hoped would have questioned the scores after what we told her, but at this point we are certain she thought we were inflating him. She has, literally, no clue.
My question is how many children are missed by poorly administered "assessments"? The district our son is in is one of the best in our state with lots of funding and programs. We have open enrolled and drive a considerable distance.

Also, the Principal was very candid with us and admitted that if we were to keep him in immersion that there were no teachers in his school that would be able or willing to differentiate curriculum. At this point I would never advise someone with a gifted child to put them in elementary immersion. It totally masked his abilities and the curriculum moves super super slow!
Our son is polite, follows directions and is a very happy kid. He does not cause trouble. His teacher put him at a table with the three kids who have behavioral difficulties.

What can I do to prevent this happening to other children? We are very involved parents and it happened to us.

Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!

Read all you can about advocacy, choosing a school, and finding the best possible academic "fit". Be willing to make changes as needed, many families re-evaluate each year. Talk with your child to see how they are perceiving their educational experience.

Encourage others to do these same things: read up on advocacy , assessing educational "fit, re-evaluating options frequently, and consulting with their children.

Development of reading skill has been discussed on several recent threads and may be found by searching the archives. Here is one post from one discussion thread about reading levels... a child may read (decode) at one level, read fluently at another (often lower) level, comprehend at another level.

How does your ds' immersion school work? Is it half-day English and half-day Spanish? Which subjects are taught in which language?



As indigo mentioned, there are reading assessment involve different types of skills - I am not familiar with Fountas and Pinnell so have no idea about what might have been included in his assessment, but fwiw, there are any # of reasons he might have scored lower on the assessment than what you see him reading at home. Even though it's been half a year and you're frustrated overall with school etc, I think it would be worth following up to figure out why his score was lower than you'd anticipated. It might be as simple as the person administering the test stopped at 2nd grade level (that happened with our ds in early elementary), or it might be that while he's reading higher level book, his comprehension or fluency are really still at 2nd grade level and that it's a good place for him to be working in school.


This is probably not going to be reassuring, but fwiw, my ds never had appropriate-level reading instruction at school. Like your ds, he simply learned how to read without help. And really, in spite of not being in an advanced reading program in early elementary, it was ok. The larger issues cropped up in things like science and social studies where he was frustrated with the level of discussion and pace of instruction. But re reading in and of itself, I don't think he really missed out on much of anything at all.


FWIW, chances are the Reading Specialist *is* aware, but what you might be seeing is a belief that all children need to learn phonics. I have no idea how my ds learned to read (I suspect it was whole words), but he also understood phonics. One of his best friends in K-1 learned via whole word, and the teacher was very concerned that if she didn't learn phonics she would run into brick walls with reading later on when reading material became more complex. I have no idea if that actually happened because I've lost track with her mom... but I know at the time her parents were not happy about the push for phonics and felt their dd's reading would be just fine.


We've found that teachers haven't really cared much about IQ test numbers or reports of where our kids were performing at home - what made an impact in advocating were the achievement tests administered by the schools - which typically don't start here until 3rd grade. Once our EG ds was in upper elementary and taking Terra Nova etc, advocating was a lot easier and more straightforward. The key there is having a test that's recognized and accepted by the teachers, and that all the students take, not just one student via outside testing.

[qipte]My question is how many children are missed by poorly administered "assessments"? The district our son is in is one of the best in our state with lots of funding and programs. We have open enrolled and drive a considerable distance.[/quote]

The reality is public schools have a very tough job meeting the needs of a very diverse set of students. Simply enrolling in a charter or other type of optional school program and driving a considerable distance isn't going to bypass the challenges that all public schools face. (Note: private schools face many of the same challenges). The one thing that the parents I know in our district who have enrolled their children in immersion programs have found, though, (which is common across our district's charter programs... for the most part...) is that because it's an optional program, you may find a slightly higher-ability overall in the student population of the program and you most often find a higher level of involved parents supporting the program. If you want to get into the classroom and help evolve change/opportunities available to the students in the program who are capable of more, the key is often to work with other parents. Find parents who's students have faced the same challenges, find parents who share your frustrations, find parents who could partner up and help you volunteer time during the day to work with the kids who are ready for some math differentiation for instance, or to sponsor an after-school enrichment club like robotics etc. You might not be a robotics expert (just an example), but ask around and you might find someone who is capable and would like to take it on.


This really depends on the school. Unfortunately, you'll find that you might run into the same issues in non-immersion schools too... so much ultimately depends on each school and the school's staff.


This is an issue for kids who aren't gifted too - it happens a lot in school from what I've seen. It has happened to each of my kids - sometimes purposely because they are well-behaved (this happened to my ds), but other times it was simply random. I would let the teacher know it's bothering your ds (if it is) and request that he be moved. If she tells you she has him placed at the table specifically to be an example for the other children, remind her that's not his responsibility.


I think I'd step back first and realize - your ds is an outlier. There aren't going to be that many other kids at the school with a GAI as high as your ds'. Have you heard about other parents being frustrated? If you are planning to stay at the school, I think I'd try to focus on what type of positive advocacy can you achieve - can you start an enrichment program etc, can you convince the school to offer differentiation in math or another subject. And the place to start first is to find other parents who share your concern or your enthusiasm for trying something new.

Good luck!

polarbear

One thing I realized in our schools is that reading ability is NOT based on their ability to read and comprehend a text. Children are grouped by ability to "interpret" a text. Interpretations are EXTREMELY subjective, but not by the teacher--there are "right" and "wrong" answers, even when the questions are moronic.

So my daughter, who regularly reads, talks about, and interprets fourth-grade reading material, is at the second grade level officially. This is because if you ask her questions such as, "What was the author thinking about in this passage?" she will answer, correctly, "I don't know."

And she doesn't know. The author might have included it by chance, or might have been copying or translating--my child has no idea what the author was thinking. The question ought to be, "Why did the author include this paragraph in the story? What is it supposed to add?"

This trips up a LOT of literal, logic-oriented children in terms of assessment.

It is worth knowing this when you go in. I phrase it to my daughter's teacher, "I know that she's still working on interpreting the critical thinking questions in a less literal way. But I do think she's absorbing the material."

This doesn't get us any slack, of course, because my daughter is just one of many children in that precise situation. It is really hard to get above second-grade reading because the third-grade questions are just out there.

Every test is going to miss some child's talent. Some kids are phonetic geniuses and don't get to show that; other kids are great readers but have unique interpretations; still other kids will not read a text they are not interested in but are brilliant at interpretation when they care. Every test will miss somebody. The key is to see their point of view--they have to have one standard for all the kids--and make sure they know you know it, when advocating.

Good luck.

I'm pretty sure the F&P test has a K-2 level and 3-8 level, so it may be as simple as your son maxing out the version they gave him. I'm sorry you're in this situation; it's so frustrating! But you're providing good books for him, just discuss them with him and he'll be ok until you can find something better.

I always had problems with interpretation/inference too. Unless the author actually wrote down what he meant or cab be asked or whatever we simply don't know why the wrote a certain thing or what they meant. If the asked "what does ms. X in her thesis paper of 2003 attribute the author's diatribe in verse 6 i woulbe OK

Thank you all so much! I thought I replied earlier, but since I am new to this I might have missed something, so if it appears later, I apologize.

I sent or son's Principal the information regarding the different Fountas and Pinell test levels. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see what he says. Supposedly they will be putting our son in the reading enrichment after Spring break. I am not holding my breath, but at his point my only concern is for1st grade this fall. He qualifies for the in district gifted program which is in a separate classroom in a different school. They group kids with an IQ over 145 together in a 2-3 grade room and 4-5. It has gotten great reviews from other parents so we are excited about this opportunity for our son! We are visiting the other school after break and see what the Principal can offer in forms of differentiation for 1st grade.

Thanks again so much for the feedback, this is such an awesome forum and I wish I would have found it sooner!