Reading these comments brings back all the bad feelings that I had with my dd's third grade teacher last year (same teacher unfortunately from 1st through 3rd). They used a system to set the students' reading level (DRA?), and when my daughter told her that she could read every word of the three books at the highest level available in class and could she read at a higher level, the teacher responded "Well, the words are more difficult at a higher level and besides, those books are inappropriate for a little kid like you." DD came home crying after school. This was even after I had offered to get appropriate books from the library!!! That was actually the last straw for me and we have since switched schools.
