At what level should a fluent reader start in Lexia?

[Anonymous]

Since FCPS doesn’t teach grammar, at least Lexia introduced some in elementary school. It introduced contractions and a few parts of speech. Not great, but better than getting nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since FCPS doesn’t teach grammar, at least Lexia introduced some in elementary school. It introduced contractions and a few parts of speech. Not great, but better than getting nothing.

I agree. I asked an English teacher if they study grammar in 7th grade, and she said started talking about vocabulary instead of grammar!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teacher pp here— our training for Lexia and ST Math was pretty minimal, and most teachers just assign the minutes without really understanding how it works or how to best leverage it. We’re all over-extended. I figured out a lot by exploring on my own. I think with a tech-savvy reading specialist more teachers could be doing this— mine is very nice but doesn’t seem to really understand the program herself.

(I am also one of the very few who really digs ST Math. There is so much you can do with it if you assign objectives carefully to complement class units, monitor usage, and accelerate the kids who need it. Also giving unlimited Jijis is a game changer.)

OP here. Thank you! So...what would you suggest a parent do if they think their child *might* have underperformed on the placement test due to lack of headphones? Would asking if DC could do some Lexia at home be a good solution? I understand the levels are not grade levels but I did read some griping that they can take a long time to get through (though your information about why that might be is quite illuminating and helpful). Maybe DC will catch up just fine.

Also, DC's teacher didn't mention anything about a ST Math placement test. Are there any? I worry ST Math will be a real slog for DC who has been doing Beast Academy online for fun.

Why do you have to ask the teacher? The kid can log in at home and do it if they want.

[Anonymous]

This probably not relevant. But I teach kindergarten and I have moved some of my students to the next level because they will have spent a month trying to get through the first few units and not even hit the letter and sound portion. There is also a language prompt to help the EL learners. We have to do it on iPads that they constantly lock themselves out of and then clever will want a new log in or the Lexia app will be updating and I am trying to work with kids on intervention so the whole thing is a PITA to me. I do it because the county requires it but no doubt they have sunk tons of $$$ into this.

And the training was done remotely by someone from Lexia- who has no idea of the challenges in FCPS or my class.

[Anonymous]

They are supposed to be getting ST Math to play nicely with iReady so it will assign objectives based on that. This is already working in some (most?) schools but not mine. We don’t have a math specialist and I haven’t gotten an answer about why.

The kids are started on the grade level “journey” at the beginning of the year, which takes them through a preset sequence of objectives. If a child has memorized algorithms but doesn’t have strong conceptual understanding, ST math at grade level can still be challenging. You could ask which journey your child is working on and if it seems appropriate. You could also ask for the teacher to assign the grade level “Challenge” objective. It’s more enrichment type spatial thinking puzzles, and my kids always like it.

I would first make sure my kid is completing the weekly assignment and doing their best so that the data reflects what they can do. “This is boring” can be kid-language for “this is too easy” but it can also mean “this is too hard” or “this is less fun than reading my book or playing a video game.” ST Math can be done at home so you can get a good idea of what they’re doing.

For Lexia— you could ask for a progress update. Is DC working at a good accuracy rate, working on grade level material, completing the weekly assignment? If the pre-assessment was done without headphones and they were placed below grade level you could ASK for the pre-assessment to be reset. (Caveat— this erases all of their Lexia progress! You don’t want to do this if you’re not pretty sure they’ll place higher than the current level.)

Teachers have been told in no uncertain terms this year that kids CANNOT do Lexia at home. This is because they don’t want parents doing it for them and according to the Lexia people it undermines the effectiveness. That said— I don’t check the specific times my kids have been on Lexia. If a kid comes in Tuesday and has the week’s work done, or if I check progress on Friday and someone has made a lot of progress that they probably didn’t have time for at school— oh well. So if your child is just stuck with too-easy material, and does sone extra work at home to progress faster— no one is probably going to notice.

Hope this helps— I’m going to bow out of the thread for now as my own children want attention.

[Anonymous]

Dc finished Lexia at 2nd grade ( at school, not allowed at home), but Lexia power up was supposed to start at 5th grade, so DC was asked to do either paper version of Lexia or redo Lexia. Just follow what teacher have your dc do, speed up doesn’t make difference and either way would be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a computer program and can be glitchy. My kid didn’t know he needed headphones for part of the test and was placed at the kindergarten level. He has been working through it for the last year and a half. He was in 6th grade aap when that happened and as a aap 7th grader he still has to work on it sometimes.
Sometimes computer programs suck. They suck more when humans and teachers aren’t allowed to override the system.

The teacher can reset Lexia and he can take a new placement test. I’ve heard that some schools have that feature turned off for teachers and only let the reading specialists or coaches reset, but it’s easy to do. Try to reach out and advocate for him to retest instead of slogging through it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are supposed to be getting ST Math to play nicely with iReady so it will assign objectives based on that. This is already working in some (most?) schools but not mine. We don’t have a math specialist and I haven’t gotten an answer about why.

The kids are started on the grade level “journey” at the beginning of the year, which takes them through a preset sequence of objectives. If a child has memorized algorithms but doesn’t have strong conceptual understanding, ST math at grade level can still be challenging. You could ask which journey your child is working on and if it seems appropriate. You could also ask for the teacher to assign the grade level “Challenge” objective. It’s more enrichment type spatial thinking puzzles, and my kids always like it.

I would first make sure my kid is completing the weekly assignment and doing their best so that the data reflects what they can do. “This is boring” can be kid-language for “this is too easy” but it can also mean “this is too hard” or “this is less fun than reading my book or playing a video game.” ST Math can be done at home so you can get a good idea of what they’re doing.

For Lexia— you could ask for a progress update. Is DC working at a good accuracy rate, working on grade level material, completing the weekly assignment? If the pre-assessment was done without headphones and they were placed below grade level you could ASK for the pre-assessment to be reset. (Caveat— this erases all of their Lexia progress! You don’t want to do this if you’re not pretty sure they’ll place higher than the current level.)

Teachers have been told in no uncertain terms this year that kids CANNOT do Lexia at home. This is because they don’t want parents doing it for them and according to the Lexia people it undermines the effectiveness. That said— I don’t check the specific times my kids have been on Lexia. If a kid comes in Tuesday and has the week’s work done, or if I check progress on Friday and someone has made a lot of progress that they probably didn’t have time for at school— oh well. So if your child is just stuck with too-easy material, and does sone extra work at home to progress faster— no one is probably going to notice.

Hope this helps— I’m going to bow out of the thread for now as my own children want attention.

It DOES help. Incredibly informative. Thank you! --OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read on here that some schools won't let kids start higher than grade level.

That is not how Lexia was designed, so if they are doing that it is definitely not best practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dc finished Lexia at 2nd grade ( at school, not allowed at home), but Lexia power up was supposed to start at 5th grade, so DC was asked to do either paper version of Lexia or redo Lexia. Just follow what teacher have your dc do, speed up doesn’t make difference and either way would be fine.

What? In FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dc finished Lexia at 2nd grade ( at school, not allowed at home), but Lexia power up was supposed to start at 5th grade, so DC was asked to do either paper version of Lexia or redo Lexia. Just follow what teacher have your dc do, speed up doesn’t make difference and either way would be fine.

What? In FCPS?

Yes it’s fcps.

[Anonymous]

How does one log in at home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one log in at home?

Schoology —> clever

[Anonymous]

DC started at level 9 in 2nd grade and ended the year at level 18. I have no idea if that’s typical pace or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since FCPS doesn’t teach grammar, at least Lexia introduced some in elementary school. It introduced contractions and a few parts of speech. Not great, but better than getting nothing.

I am an English teacher. My entire department, at all grade levels, teaches grammar.