Regarding reading level... They test them every 9 weeks to see the progress (they track it, so supposedly testing every 9 weeks is a good thing). Reading specialist performs testing and my daughter done them since last year. Lowered AR level is not a cause of concern for me by any means as I am an opponent of the theory “the more you read the better you get” (at least, this is how it worked for me). What concerned me is her response where she also mentioned that all of second grade teachers got AR results lowered due to different objectives during testing: fluency vs. comprehension. I just got this vibe that we are “altering results” to conform to general expectations. It was amazing to watch the same vibe last year with other teacher during IEP meeting (gifted here is under special ed). She was asked how my DD is doing and response was: she is doing OK, she is right where she supposed to be at this level… So, you have a kid, 5 years old, who skipped (one of few), who reads at third grade level (tested by school, not what she actually capable of), does multi digit additions/subtractions, understands multiplications, divisions, etc, etc, etc… And all her teacher can say “she is OK, where she is supposed to be….”.
In general, the whole idea of public (and private as well I am sure) education that tells you “they all even out by the third grade” and “all kids are gifted” this is what bothers me. I am upset that sometimes this makes me doubt my child. I still sometimes have this “well, maybe they all really even out”, “maybe tests where just a mistake”. This is a painful to doubt your child because of teachers like these.
