When my kids were learning to read, it was pretty important to us to know their level. Both have a pretty low threshhold for frustration. I take books I know they can read and look it up on the Scholastic Book Wizard. From there I find books at a similar level or slowly inch it upwards until finding their frustration level.
For both kids, I stopped doing this around DRA 20-22. After that it doesn't seem to matter for them. I've been frustrated by the strict application of the 5word per page rule, as both my kids easily infer meaning of unfamiliar words, so it doesn't dramatically affect their comprehension.
We have now encountered the negative consequences of the school stopping the reading assessment at one grade level above. DD9 is now identified as having a reading disability, but thr last time they found her ceiling was in kindrgarten. So now we're going onto an IEP without the school knowing what her reading level is, giving us neither a baseline or any means for monitoring the efficacy of the intevention.
Yes, I've gotten her tested privately, and I expect the report today.
