How do you know what "grade level" your dyslexic kid is?

[Anonymous]

My kid was diagnosed with dyslexia earlier this year (in 3rd). I had suspected dyslexia since 1st, but her teachers kept saying that she's reading "on grade level." Her reading is OK, but it's SLOW and she often skips easy words like "the" or says "I" for "A." I could just tell something was off and eventually paid for a private evaluation, which revealed dyslexia. She scored in the 8th percentile for things like rapid naming and in the 90th percentile in non-reading-related areas. Clear dyslexia!

Here's the issue: her teachers still say that she's on grade level. Her I-ready tests also indicate that she's on grade level for reading and ahead of grade level in math. She takes the tests untimed as part of her 504 plan, and is often the ABSOLUTE LAST to finish. If she took the test timed, I'm certain that they would reveal that she's way behind grade level.

--So, how do I determine her actual grade level?

---Should I ask that they give her the tests in the same timed environment as her peers in the fall to get a baseline?

The reason for doing this would be to get a sense of how she's actually doing and to get the school to provide services. At our 504 meeting, they said she can't get an IEP because she tests as at/above grade level so her disability is not impacting her ability to access the curriculum.

I'm not even sure we want in-school services since I've heard those aren't really worth it. We do private tutoring after school 3 hours/week.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry the school is giving you grief. I don't know whether it's worth it to fight them and get an IEP, but I do know that no school can provide the highly specific dyslexia training that your child needs. Thank goodness you have the funds to pay for private tutoring! Are you doing OG, or something else? This is going to help your child the most, by far. Observe the lessons, and on days when you're not paying for a session, practice with her, including on weekends. The best remediation is the intensive kind, so that she spends as little time catching up as possible, and can access the curriculum better in a few years.

My kid with an IEP just could not function in school without it. He has dyscalculia, dysgraphia, abysmally low processing speed (double time, and often he still couldn't complete assignments). Also autism and severe inattentive ADHD. He had pull-out instruction in elementary, group speech therapy, a scribe to write for him for a couple of years, and in secondary school, a resource class to finish his work and get organizational help. That's the sort of profile they give IEPs to. In elementary, I retaught at home all the stuff he missed in class, and in secondary, we paid for writing and math tutors, then specific AP/test prep.

[Anonymous]

IReady is untimed for everyone. One problem with low fluency is that it often impacts comprehension. How is her reading comprehension? What are her iready growth metrics?

[Anonymous]

The fact that she is slow to finish iReady doesn't mean she's not reading on grade level, it just means she reads slowly.

Dibels is a test they do in grade school to show how accurately she reads out loud in one minute, and it benchmarks it compared to her peers.

But if her comprehension is good, which iReady would suggest, she is in good shape!

The more she reads, the better she will get. She will get faster as she reads more, but will always be slower than average.

[Anonymous]

you could have her evaluated

[Anonymous]

If they know she has diagnosed dyslexia and they aren’t offering an IEP, you’d need to spend a lot of money and all the goodwill you’ve accrued at that school to get her services. Even then, what if they post a position for a special Ed teacher to work with her and no one applies? I spend my money on outside tutoring, rather than fighting for more. YMMV.