Family Forum / Parenting / Parenting / January 2006

hmmmm..   I don't think of an A/B student as average.
C is the *average* grade.

--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

One thing to remember is that the level of reading expected of young
children has risen dramatically. Children are now generally expected to
leave kindergarten reading, and reading pretty fluently, because if a child
is not reading at a "proficent" level by 3rd grade, the school faces
sanctions (and so does the child).

As a result, a lot of tests are being used to locate children who are even
slightly behind and give them extra help early-the one my district uses is
DIBLES. It is very possible that your child just had a bad test day, or
didn't do well on one section. For example, if a child doesn't read
primarily phonetically, there is a section which they may do quite badly on,
as it involves nonsense words.

I'd suggest meeting with the teacher, finding out exactly what she means and
what she plans to do-and then going from there. I certainly would not panic.

Things keep changing in terms of what is expected of a child at
the beginning of first grade.   It *was* true that first graders were
not expected to be reading several years ago, but that is no longer
true.  

Now, children are expected to leave kindergarten knowing the
alphabet, recognizing 5-10 sight words (such as the, is, my, like,
and see) and knowing how to read some 3-letter, short vowel
words such as cat, run, and hop.

Scholastic publishes a book called 100 Words Kids Need to
Read by 1st Grade which you might find helpful — it contains
lots of fun, colorful activities for practice with sight words.

Did the teacher say what the problems were?  One thing that
often happens with kids is that they learn to decode, but they
don't always comprehend what they read.  That is a serious
problem that usually doesn't come up until 3rd grade, but which
might happen earlier as well.

Phonics skills are also expected in first grade, though I am
not sure how much is expected this early in the year.

--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

Her teacher's a reading specialist, so is probably more keen on what to look
for in a 1st grader than the average teacher who's not a reading specialist.
~Peggy

Are you sure the teacher means she is below grade level for this term or
that she is below grade level for what would be expected at the end of the
year? I've seen teachers do their grading both ways--either grading the kids
based on the proficiency expectation that's in place for the end of the year
or grading based on a guesstimate of where they should be at the end of each
term in order to reach grade-level proficiency by the end of the year. If
the teacher is using the year-end method, then you'd *expect* your daughter
to be below the proficiency level now since it's only the beginning of the
year.

My impression is that teachers often identify kids who are completely within
the norms for their grade level as being "behind" if their skills are
towards the bottom end of the normal range. I know we saw this with my son
(second grader), whose reading aloud skills were identified as being on the
low side during the first week of school. Now, as it happens, the charts say
they are supposed to read 53-84 wpm aloud by the end of the first trimester.
My son was reading 54 wpm during that first week. Now, clearly, he was in
the "proficient" range for the end of the first trimester--to say nothing of
the first week of school--but was identified as having slightly low skill
levels. I'm convinced that this is because of the pressure on schools
created by NCLB and the incessant standardized testing. The idea is to push,
push, push in the early part of the year so that by the time they take the
tests, they're at or well above the proficiency levels being tested.

In your shoes, I wouldn't worry too much about this. Have your daughter read
aloud to you for 5-10 minutes each day. That alone should improve her skills
quite quickly.

Good luck and HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara
Mom to Sin (Vernon, 2), Misery (Aurora, 5), and the Rising Son (Julian, 7)

This week's suggested Bush/Cheney campaign bumper sticker:
"Compassionate Colonialism"

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

It is so interesting that you posted this, as my daughter, in first
grade, just got a lower than expected (by me) grade in reading/writing
on her interim.  But she's in a gifted school, and she's only just
turned five this summer.

I'm interested in reading the responses you get, and after talking to
my daughter's teacher, I'll post with any relevant things I learn.
Tina.

I agree that 4 weeks is a short assessment period, especially if
your child is shy about showing what she knows in novel situations.

Your best bet is to speak with the teacher and ask what is expected
of kids at this stage of first grade.  Does your daughter know
letter sounds?  It could be that the teacher has phonics-based
standards she is basing her assessment on, and is not giving "credit"
for sight vocabulary.

Anyhow, the only way to find out is to ask ;-)

Good luck,
--Robyn

Wow! I had forgotten about this and ran across my orginal post today (I had
to change my name because I couldn't get into my catsferrets
account)<p>Thought you might want to know how it all came out.  I got a
callfrom the reading specialist a month or two after my last post.  She
said that my daughter was now testing above grade level so was no longer
eligible for services. I said - how could that be? If she needed services
to get to that level, wouldn't her skills decline if she left? The teacher
admitted to me that she probably shouldn't have been there in the first
place. She said my daughter was probably nervous in her first few weeks of
first grade so didn't test well. Of course by this time some damage was
done - she felt like something was wrong with her because she went to the
"special" reading class<P>
At the end of first grade she tested at mid 3rd grade level. Now in mid
second grade all I know is that she is in the highest level reading group
and is above grade level.<p>Also it turned out that almost every parent
had a problem with the first grade teacher.  She has developed a
reputation, and parents request that their children not be placed in her
class.  So it  wasn't just me being a sensitive mom.