Hello everyone! Hope all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!
Another update on this:
I spoke with DD's teacher a few weeks before holiday break and we requested that another DRA be performed. The conversation did not go very well as I explained what DD reads at home, how DD complained that her teacher didn't have any challenging books for her, and that DD noticed the difference in the reading groups with the high group getting much better books to read and according to my DD "way harder questions" from the teacher while all her group did was basically round-robin reading from a book about 300 points below DD's MAP assessed Lexile and no questions. DD also explained that for some weeks, the teacher would spend double time with the low group, time with the high group, and skip DD's group.
When I asked about the disconnect between MAP and DRA (teacher's assigned reading level), DD's teacher said her high MAP score was not even considered in determining classroom instruction. When I stated I was shocked because the district states 95% was the district's cutoff for advanced instruction and how they spend millions on administering MAP, she kept insisting DD was at the right level and MAP was of no consequence.
The DRA was done by another teacher and my DD came home from school saying her teacher "had a fit with her taking the test" and gave her trouble about utilizing the book for the writing part which my DD had to show her the paper which stated "use book" and explain that the other teacher had provided the book. This was not the first time my DD had stated that her teacher has been short with her.
We received no response back on the test from DD's teacher when we asked. We sent an e-mail to the other teacher asking for a score and were politely told that the information had been forwarded to my DD's teacher who is on maternity leave and someone would be in touch with us after school starts back up.
As part of the other teacher's e-mail who tested our DD, she put this in her reply which has since started a feud between DH and I:
"At this time, I recommend not focusing on the “level” she is reading, but simply making sure to read each night. It is both my personal and professional opinion that students should be reading books that they are interested in, rather than a specific level. The level of books simply helps teachers in finding good fit books for classroom instruction. "
This to me does not make sense. I feel level of text is extremely important. Lexile.com states that in order for students to grow, they must read books in their proximal range of no more than 100 points below their assessed Lexile and 50 points above. Like others, I feel wary of the DRA. My DD is a terrible oral speaker and not that great at writing. But give her a test like MAP and she can shine with the knowledge of what we've read and talked about. Now I am worried that DD won't receive any instruction at school and be consigned to round-robin reading of low-level texts until she becomes an "orator" which I feel is simply not possible for her at this age.
DH feels that reading level in school doesn't matter. If she is not in the high group, it is no big deal just as long as she is not in the lowest group. He feels that if she can't read aloud orally then the school is right to stop advancement until she is a perfect oral reader (even though the high reading group according to DD doesn't read aloud during group, very little, mostly silent reading followed by challenging questions). If it's not important for those children, why is it so important for DD? DD states no one in the class reads "like an adult" and they all make mistakes.
What are the opinions here? Is oral reading that important? Is the teacher right in that the levels do not matter? I would think from DD's perception of instruction, it seems obvious to her that what she is reading is not on her "level". For myself, it doesn't seem logical. I believe like Lexile.com states that what level you read at is extremely important. Even from guided reading sites, one can see the huge difference in books. My DD knows when she is reading something "easy" vs. something "hard".
What bothers me most about the whole situation is the thought of sending my child to school where she essentially learns nothing from the provided instruction with teachers telling us to do the work ourselves each night. All the while, other parents children are being challenged and receiving what I perceive as a "better" education even though we all pay the same property taxes.
Last edited by shifrbv; 12/29/13 05:30 AM.
