DD9 brought home her beginning of the year reading assessment with a grade level placement of 5th grade (insert massive rolling of the eyes here). This is the same child that 2 years ago scored in the 99.6th percentile in reading comprehension on the WIAT (comparable to how a 10th grader would score) and last year scored as a 9th grader on the school's STAR reading assessment. The same child who is going to the CTY awards ceremony this weekend because of her score on the SCAT verbal section. From dd's description of the assessment, I doubt her teacher even tested anyone past the 5th grade level.
Okay, I know I should just take a deep breath and let it go, but her teacher is going to use this score to determine what dd is allowed to read in class. In her experience children do best when they don't read books that are "too hard" for them. They need to read lots of books "at their level" in order to progress to the next level.
To read this teacher's communications, not one child in the class is an eager reader. We parents need to give our kids pep talks about how much fun reading can be! Reading is important! If we work on encouraging our kids to read this year they might (gasp!) choose to read on their own next summer.
I haven't mentioned to her teacher yet that we use grounding from reading as a consequence in our house. I'm sure she'd be appalled.
Okay, vent over. I did email dd's teacher her previous test scores, noting that since this was an "informal assessment" (her words) she might like some additional information to help dd choose books in class. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good outcome.
