Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Son not scoring as expected on DRA test at school

My son, who is 7.5, is in second grade. The teacher just told us he is at DRA 28, which is the expected score by June. She seemed quite thrilled. However, he's born very early in the year, so he's really scoring about on target, if you consider his date of birth. And, what's more, the score doesn't seem consistent with his reading.

For example, this afternoon, he started reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He spent part of the day doing activities, having dinner, playing Wii, doing activities with me, etc. In spite of that, he is well past page 100. I had him read aloud for 20 minutes and he only needed help with the very occasional word. When I asked him questions about the book and what he was reading, he had no problems with comprehension or recall whatsoever. The book is apparently 5th grade level. He also reads Harry Potter (needing help with vocabulary a little more often) and other books.

What could be going on with the DRA? He is shy. But it sees to me like his score is below his actual abilities.

I am a bit skeptical of the test because, last year at this time, he scored a 2 with the same teacher (who I like). I had him re-assessed a month later and he was a 16.

I just don't want them to miss how he is actually reading. When I was in grade 2, I was reading at an 11th grade level. His father was also reading far above grade level. While it is entirely possible that he would not have our reading skills, I don't want my son's academic needs to be overlooked. I'm concerned that the DRA score is low (see last year) and that he won't be pushed to read at his true level.

Could anyone tell me how the DRA works? Is it possible they are testing for something I'm not seeing?

Thanks for wading through this.

My son (DYS) was stuck at DRA level 28 for nearly a year. After level 28 students must answer in writing rather than orally, which holds back kids who are reading (but not writing) at a very high level. If you are concerned, you may want to request a different reading assessment.

I feel like I see this a lot... children not performing in school on the tests as they do at home. I have the very same problem with the DRA... DS seems to me at a much higher level than where he lands on the assessment (every time!). On the WISC achievement tests he scored a year ahead of grade level in reading. I don't think the teacher is purposely trying to hold him back or downplay his abilities, but I find it very frustrating. As does DS who is adament that he should be able to take books form the higher level basket (leading to him "stealing" books from the higher level basket and/or refusing to pick book any books the level he has been assigned b/c he considers those books "far below him"). I mostly assume it is due to inconsistencybecasue of his convergence issus. So my way of dealing with it is to just provide hhim with books at home for him to log on his reading log. But THEN we get in trouble for not reading the proper books on his "just right reading level." It is a real problem!

Anyway, when I question the teacher about DRA assessment this is the explanation she gave me (it may be helpful for you in terms of understanding how these DRAs work):

"There are three components to the DRA; reading engagement, fluency and comprehension. None of it involves writing (until mid 2nd grade level books are reached) and the only part that involves the vision is the oral reading. I feel that the assessment was accurate as it was the comprehension (oral responses) piece not the fluency that decided where to end the test."

She put the last sentence in bold so she was trying to highlight to me that it isn't because of his vision ... But that is even more disconcerting to me b/c at home his comprehension is very high and standard achievements tests do show that as well. I give up, though...I mean what can I do?

So thinking about this more got me googling... and I found this:

http://www.ehow.com/list_6298667_challenges-developmental-reading-assessment.html

I don't think it matters. If your child was behind, it was be good information to have and a measure of growth, but I don't think it's an issue. Your child will pick books at his level both for interest and ability. I think it's just your job to create an environment where reading is a value in your home and he'll flourish.

My kiddo also had trouble way back when with the DRA assessments and teacher choosing her level of reading. It seemed way out of whack to me. I had no idea about gifted stuff way back then. I use to sneak books on her level into her back pack and told her to read those. I started off in first grade with the Tree House series. They were below her level but the books were small enough to not attract attention and there was some interesting tid bits that she liked to learn. By the end of the year I had given up all trying to hide books by thickness or hard back or whatever...She had all kinds of books that she was taking. I never heard from the teacher and I would just test her comprehension with a few questions here and there. My child is very uncomfortable reading out loud and I think that can really affect how some teachers see the reading ability. My child loves to read and I would do anything I could to protect that love of reading. Sneaking books in for her saved her sanity for awhile. The sneaking started after I met with the teacher and it was apparent that she was adamant that the test scores were accurate and that she had her properly placed. I have a younger child who I will help her learn to read out loud a bit better. Also I think if I was faced with the same dilemma again I would check into Sylvan learning and see what assessments they had. I had my older daughter tested for math with them for very cheap relative to private testing and the information facilitated her into the highly gifted program... They had nationally ranked tests and she got the 99 % she needed. They do not break down the 99 into anything more than 99. Just an idea.

Ohh the main reason I started to write was to include this little that I found on the web. The montessori teacher just gave DD4 a book to read that has DRA level on it so I was checking into it. It claims to be written by a PhD. Have not completed reading it yet. Similar info as in the ehow article posted earlier, just a bit more academic.

http://natalierathvon.com/images/DRA_Review-08-25-2006.pdf

Flower - very very interesting .... I am sort of at my wits end because Ds really hates the system and then the teacher seems to get angry at us for not folloekwing the system... I thought maybe there was something wrong with us! But it seems like we're not!

When my son was in public school they used Fountas-Pinnell for their level assessments. At the beginning of 2nd grade he was at a "W" (5/6 grade). For his first grading period of 3rd he was down to "P". At that point I had already pulled him out but I was assuming the teacher just stopped at that point since it was a high-3 or 4 grade level. Maybe the teacher just stopped at a certain point? Not an acceptable reason at all in my opinion but it can happen even when a teacher allegedly is trained & experienced with GT kids.