Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment New and looking for context. NWEA MAP scores

My daughter is in first grade and we're struggling to find some context for test scores and understanding whether we should be asking for a differentiated curriculum for her.

She's a self-taught reader who, as far as we can tell, was born with the ability to read. She entered preschool reading on what we were told was a DRA 20 level. In K, they told us she maxed out at DRA 50 and could probably go much higher if she could write on that level. Every school year we battle with incredulous teachers and we dread it.

We moved over the summer and things have gotten really strange. Her new teachers told us she hasn't even mastered a beginning second grade reading level and has huge gaps in her comprehension. We immediately began to worry. If she regressed that far, what could have happened? We were pretty concerned. Then they administered the 1st grade MAP test. They told us she scored 95th percentile but didn't even score the highest score in the class for reading. They said she'd nearly maxed out the test in reading and math so they administered the 2-5 MAP.

Her scores were like this:

Reading: 207
Math: 203

My husband is a former education reporter and used to report on these scores. We understand what they mean from a statistical standpoint. What we don't really understand is what sort of differentiation we should be expecting for her. We live in Michigan where there is little if any gifted education. Now that her teachers have seen these scores, they insist her big gaps in comprehension are at the 4th grade level instead of 1st and want to enrich her reading comprehension and that's pretty much it.

They seem to think scores like these are pretty mundane. We've never tried to navigate public schools before and we have no idea what to believe or expect.

We're now on year three of pretty much no meaningful instruction for her and we're frustrated. What is reasonable to expect from the school? Anyone have any ideas based on her instructional level? We're stumped.

I'm not from Michigan so I'm not sure, but I believe grade and subject acceleration are up to individual school districts in Michigan. That may be the best option to consider since your district doesn't provide any gifted programming.

I'd check to see if your school district has an acceleration policy. Try the website first so you know what to ask about. Whole grade and subject acceleration can be called a variety of names depending on the district. If you don't find acceleration, try looking under "promotion" or "grade reclassification." You may need to look in a variety of places for information as well. Sometimes information is on the school website; sometimes it's on the district website. It can be hard to find so try looking under "gifted," "special services," "guidance," "student service," "curriculum and instruction," "special education," or "individual learning."

I'm not going to be much help- but I wonder if the lack of meaningful instruction is what is causing her to "level out?" I've heard parents say that some of the leveling out can be teacher driven- meaning that the majority of the time is spent catching other students up or teaching to the standard, so that the advanced kids don't continue moving forward?

On the other hand, my DS7 is exceptional at story recall and reads words and sentences that are far beyond elementary years (probably because he reads at least 50% non-fiction/science)-- what he needs work with is realistic fiction, character development, and inferences/nuances in the writing. It is a relative weakness. His DRA has his comprehension about 2 years ahead whereas less rigorous standardized tests tend to score him four years ahead. I'm sharing this information as something to consider.

Unfortunately, for a child reading as well as your daughter, I wonder if the teachers spend much or any time working with relative weaknesses in comprehension? I know in DS's case, the language arts teachers are pointing him toward realistic fiction,asking some deliberate questions about the characters, and teaching him to put his thoughts into writing. It's making a difference.

There's a huge spread in reading, with some 6 year olds scoring like an average 12 year old, and it still may not even be 99th percentile. My DD has similar scores ranging from the 93rd to the 97th percentile on the computerized test, and I've found that books that are about 2 grade levels ahead are the most appropriate for her. For kids that are really strong in vocabulary, they may be able to go up higher. If they are not teaching comprehension in the school at the right level, I am not really sure it's that big of a deal. My kids have never been taught at the right level but their scores keep going up. The most important thing is that she is given the opportunity to read books that are challenging enough.

Eliza's score gets to median at 5th grade. It's hard to find things she likes to read and will challenge her. Last year she read Beverly Cleary and took Accelerated Reader quizzes all year. She did great with it. Her teachers seem to very much want to keep her at a late first or beginning 2nd level so she can have "peers" in her reading group. We just don't know what's reasonable with these scores.

What is she reading at home? Do you annotate those books on the Reading Log? If you are lucky enough to have escaped those, it's a record of what the child is reading every day and most annoying. Have you talked with your child about the comprehension issue? My DS can read at a much higher level than he can comprehend, so it may be that her comprehension hasn't caught up with her decoding and that's normal.

I don't understand this:

This sounds like they intend to give her fourth grade books to read and help her learn to comprehend. Is that not the case? If they are, then you need do nothing as they are on their game and already differentiating. Have they sent home books with her that seem appropriate? Or can she tell you the titles of what she's reading at school?

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear about their intentions. They told us she wasn't even meeting the F&P "instructional" level for beginning second grade before the MAP test. Afterward they F&P tested her again and told us her "instructional" level is actually R, which is akin to beginning 4th grade.

Their actual plan is nothing specific. They told us she'd be bringing home books that are far below her reading and instructional level to fill in these very non-specific "gaps" they keep referencing. No specific plan for math, but she's pretty high there, as well. Percentile range median for 4th grade, which is interesting, too.

I wrote an email to her K teacher and just said "Doesn't this seem odd and out of character for Eliza to have comprehension gaps at this level?" She wrote back and said absolutely and pointed out that she was used to getting prompts during testing as a K student and may be waiting for those prompts before she's more specific. That may be why the adapted computer test could be showing a score more reflective of what we've all seen is her actual comprehension level. Her K teacher felt very strongly that she was strongly reading fluently and comprehending well at around a 5th grade level last year, so this is all so puzzling for us.

We just don't know what is reasonable to ask for and what isn't. We feel strongly that she needs to be learning something this year and you can feel the frustration from here when she's bringing home board books she can burn through in five minutes.

Oh, no reading log this year. But last year, hoo boy...

You may want to edit your posts and remove your daughter's name for privacy. Most of us refer to our kids in the format DS9 or DD6 (dear son age 9 or dear daughter age 6).

I am sorry not to have helpful advice for you, but your story is very familiar on this board. This sounds like a school that doesn't want to find out they need to support a child outside the ordinary.

I get the sense that the educators think your DD is so ahead, she's fine, doesn't need much extra but they will accomodate the obvious issue at hand, which is that her reading ability is too high for the books that the other student are reading. That's a good sign, they are differientating with reading. I read this classic sad story over and over on these forums. I hope this nonspecific but somewhat of an action plan really does make the difference.
In regards to your question, what should you expect? A LOT. You have to, you are her advocate so be as annoying as you want to be. And as a former teacher, I can tell you that administrators comply with more demanding parents just to get them off their back. So list all of your concerns, meet with the principal, you never know, they might "get" it already, perhaps they understand more about gifted children than others do.
The reality is that most teachers are not taught systematic differentiation and are only given curriculum for that grade level, to get access to other grade level materials is a huge ordeal for them. The best option for a parent is to make a stink and hopefully the administrators will assist in supporting her teacher to get the appropriate materials she needs.

I am in Michigan and I understand your frustration completely. In MI, I have noticed that some public schools enrich or accelerate in lower elementary and some do not. Since there is no gifted funding through the State they are not required to do so, I think it is fortunate if you are in a district that will do this.

If you are not in that type of district, then I would ask yourself do they EVER provide acceleration and if so when? (For example, my district accelerates starting in 5th grade). If it is within a time frame that you can wait and enrich at home, then I would wait it out. Otherwise, I would probably check into a private education that offers a G&T program or acceleration.

I found that my daughter scored in the 98/99 percentile for Reading in lower elementary and the teachers often said the same sort of thing to me; which left me standing there scratching my head and wondering what purpose the test is for, if not to identify students who need more help in both directions (those who are not performing well and those who need more challenges).

I chose to ride out the storm because my daughter was socially very happy at school and never lost her love for school, even though she was bored at times. She still had things to learn so it wasn't all bad for her. We do a lot of enrichment at home, its just how we are, we do math/science/educational stuff for fun.

I did get upset as she started having negative growth; which will happen to your DD too, if they don't challenge her or let her take the more difficult NWEA.

That being said, she was accelerated two grades this year in math. She went from 5th to 7th. Because of that she is in an "accelerated classroom environment" working with other kids who were accelerated in math (her intellectual peers) and so the actual 5th grade work is more intense and challenging as well.

So now, we are both happy. She is still at her grade level with her age appropriate peers, but is being adequately challenged so she is now learning AT SCHOOL, every single day.

She is very happy this year and it made me question my previous decision to let her ride out the lower elementary because I didn't realize how bored or unhappy she actually was.

At any rate, its a tough personal decision to make when your only alternative is to seek out a private education. I decided to save $ for college instead of spending it on lower elementary and wait for the school district to accelerate.

I doubt you will get much more help from your daughter's school, so I wish you much luck with what you choose to do.