Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Math whiz...reading, not so much!

Hi...

We moved in June 2011 from Napa, CA to Lexington, KY. A big reason for our move was that the schools are so much better here in Lexington. This was a big adjustment for our kids (DD 7th grade, DS 5th)...it was almost like skipping a grade for them.

My son (5th grade) recently received his Spring MAP scores. He scored 261 in math and 227 in reading. Because of the reading score, he does not qualify for the "accelerated cluster" middle school program, which is housed at a different school than the one he will attend. He will be placed in the advanced math class, so I guess I should be thankful for that, but....I'm really disappointed! The school he currently attends is very test score oriented (it's the best in town and they want to keep it that way). He gets 2 hours of homework every night, which has been very stressful to us all. Since he came to this school as a 5th grader, he has not had the advantage of being challenged to do his best the way those who have attended since kindergarten have.

His Dad and I feel that the stress of the move, the amount of homework, and the higher standards of his new school have crushed his love of reading. This is the first time ever that he has not scored "off the charts" in reading. And his reading score actually got lower with each MAP test this year.

There's a question in here somewhere! I guess my big concern is that he will not have another chance to get into the accelerated cluster now, and he really does belong there. His history of CA scores reflects this, but KY does not take out-of-state test scores into consideration. I don't think that he'll be challenged enough next year, even in the advanced math class (he's currently doing 7th grade math in his advanced math class).

Should we just accept this? Or should we try to get him re-tested for reading next year and see if he can transfer to the other school? Any advice and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I was trying to think of some simple yet interesting adult books that you might buy and enjoy for yourself yet a 5th grader might pull off your bookshelf and start to read it. For some reason I thought of the book "The Tao of Pooh". I looked at the schoolastic book wizard and it's actually only a sixth grade book. I'm just thinking the only way you're going to get his reading level up to pass that test is going to be by getting him to read. The best way to get him to read is by setting an example and reading interesting books yourself that the whole family might enjoy.

If you think he will rise to the challenge of the extra work in the other school there should be some kind of program to quickly remediate the difference between the level his Ca school taught and the level he needs to be for his Ky school. My mom said my sister had to quickly learn cursive one year when we moved from one state that taught it in 3rd grade to another state that taught it in 1st grade. Sylvan learning center advertises on tv that they can help your child improve one grade level quickly. Since it's almost summer something like that might work out for you to get him lined up with the Kentucky school children.

I don't know what to tell you about requesting retesting.

Question: did the score go down or the percentile?

And how can this be blamed on his past school, lower Californian standards or his (lack of) reading abilities? From what I understand of the MAP doesn't this mean that he either unlearned stuff at his new school (if the score went down) or progressed slower than expected (if the percentile went down)?

In both case isn't the onus on the current school, and shouldn't you be asking questions on his regression to his teacher??

My DD is only in 2nd grade, so my experience with MAP scores is limited. But I know that hers went way down in the spring of last year, and she was devastated by it - had a full-blown, screaming, crying tantrum. Her reading level was still very high - it just came down from an 8th grade equivalent to a 6th grade equivalent, I think. Her teacher's opinion was that the reading level was a complete nonissue, and she was mostly focused on the tantrum issue (very reasonable, IMO). I think that with the MAP test, if you get a question wrong near the beginning, you can't get back up even if you do very well on all the rest of the test.

I would point out that the score seems lower than expected, and ask if he can retest.

Hi Smargie, welcome to the board. First off, the reading scores are still quite good, 85 percentile for 5th grade spring. See Appendix B here: 2011 MAP norms That said, I would be concerned about the scores going down. Have you asked the teachers about that? I wouldn't place this all on your son. Also, is the window for MAP testing still open? I would ask if he could restest now, if you think there's an opening in the accelerated cluster program and if you believe your kiddo belongs there. The trouble with many of these programs is that they are not open for all who need it - many times they are limited to space available. So kids who need the program miss out.

When you say that this is the first time your son's reading MAPs are not off the charts, do you mean this entire year at the school, or this most recent test? If he had qualifying scores for the program earlier in the year, I would argue that the school should take that into account. One fluke test shouldn't be what is considered as representative.

On the other hand, maybe he'll do fine without the accelerated cluster. From what you've said, it sounds like this year has been challenging. Do you think it will be less challenging next year? And if it isn't, is the school willing to be flexible to provide more challenges?

Thank you for your responses and welcome.

I guess I need to clarify a little here....They did not use MAP at the school in CA, but I do remember that his lexile level put him at a 10th grade reading level. (Which was challenging, BTW, to find books at his reading level which would have been appropriate for a 4th grader). His current lexile score is equally high, but I suppose that Lexile is not an assessment tool for gifted programs. He is currently reading and really enjoying the Hunger Games series. They are tested every 2 weeks here (Reading Counts), so he has been keeping up with his reading. In CA they were required to read 20 minutes per night, but were not tested on it. I think that the extra work here really stressed him out, and possibly caused him to score lower than he would have under different circumstances.

He is currently in the gifted program at his school. To qualify for the accelerated cluster they require at least 2 96's (Olsat and MAP) and no scores below 94 at all. It is pretty competitive, and, yes, space is definitely limited in these programs. My DS was quite surprised that the majority of kids from his Quest (the gifted program for elementary school) class will not be attending the gifted program in middle school. The poor guy thought he was the only one in his class who did not qualify!

We did meet with his teachers earlier in the year. His Quest teacher suggested a reading program to get his scores up, but we felt that he was under enough pressure as it was at the time, and decided not to pursue that. His MAP reading score (# and percentile) went a few points lower with each of the 3 tests this year.

His main teacher told me a few days ago that he will have significantly less homework next year. Go figure! So...I'm glad that he won't be under so much pressure, but still do worry about him being challenged. My concern is that the middle school gifted programs feed into the high school level programs. I'm just sorry to see him get off of that track. I guess we will have to re-assess (if this is possible) next year after he adjusts to middle school, and in the meantime hope that his new school offers him an appropriate challenge.

Thanks again for your responses.