In our school, the vast majority of assessments are only given to determine whether your child is at grade level. These tests are designed to demonstrate NCLB compliance. They don't look at whether your kid is beyond grade level. ... The gifted kids can be completely stagnant but for the purposes of NCLB, they're good.
this has been our experience. the teachers said DD5 was a "non-reader" at the beginning of march, since she wouldn't read anything for them. apparently boring books + desire to blend in = a refusal to participate. (go figure!)
when she understood she'd have to humour the system to get beyond it, she blew through 11 levels in one day. we know she could have kept going for about 30 more, but she's in Pre-K - and so they just stopped the process. the readers that have been coming home ever since have not progressed. she's irate; i'm irate, but she's clearly beyond grade level, so they've decided to keep her "levelled". in every sense of the word.
boggles the mind.
