I'm not sure about the specific details to your questions, but I do recall DS's grade 2 teacher saying that in order to qualify for a specific reading level, they had to score at a minimum percentage, and it was quite high (95%? I can't remember, but it was at least mid-90's). If I recall correctly the scoring was based on decoding, reading comprehension, and vocab.
I can tell you how the Scholastic levels are determined... it's quite interesting (we learned about this in my EA program). It's done by number of words per sentence and number of syllables per word. In otherwords, "She sat and ate a banana" would be considered a higher grade level than "I feigned dismay" ...weird, huh? I guess they have to have some kind of guideline to follow though.
My advice (I've finally, finally figured this out) is not to worry too much about grade level and instead foster a love of reading by choosing what your son is interested in, regardless of level. If you have a book that is at the right level for your son to improve his reading skills but he's not interested in it, he may become resistant. If, on the other hand, you give him a book that's about something he enjoys regardless of level, he'll grow to love reading. Then if you keep piles and piles of books in your house (lol my husband feels overrun by books) then he'll have lots of opportunity and choice.
Last edited by CCN; 03/02/13 11:50 AM.
