Screens/Tech in Schools: iReady

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You also need to advocate to remove I-Ready scores from teacher’s TAS scores as well. I have to have 80% of my students meet or exceed their stretch goal (go read what I-Ready says about stretch goals). If I have a student well below level or well above level, the content they are being assessed on is essentially I-Ready content. If kids don’t do those lessons, they won’t make the stretch goal. So yes, they will need to do lessons in class. When I didn’t have that goal, we didn’t do lessons, just the diagnostics.

As a parent I also really wish this wasn’t the case. I see such a difference in how the EOY test is administered vs the BOY and MOY ones. My kid gets rushed through the earlier ones. For the EOY, DC gets several days if they need it and they are encouraged to take their time. Totally different than the earlier ones. Their school also does special small groups before the EOY to teach some of the iready material that hasn’t come up in class. And the school also does tons of awards and prizes for making goals for EOY. It feels like the teachers deliberately hold back on teaching some the iready-specific stuff until May so that they can show growth. It works because my DC always does the best percentile-wise in the EOY. But I don’t like how differently it’s handled. It feels like they are manipulating the scores because that’s how they are being evaluated. I can’t blame them if that’s the incentive but I wish it weren’t the case.

So suspicious of your kids' teachers.

Have you discussed this with them? Our teachers have been supportive of things like giving my kids time for diagnostic tests (including the BOY and MOY tests). I've never encountered teachers "holding back" content to try and artificially boost a score. We've been at two elementary schools. This just sounds unprofessional.

My impression is that a lot of parents are uneducated about iReady and don't really understand how it's used and why it's used. I have wondered if this push to eliminate the contract is coming from parents of younger kids who don't yet get how it works and the benefits of the diagnostic testing.

I'll also note that the LA Unified School District just recently passed tighter anti-screen rules this spring and even they understood that iReady diagnostic testing shouldn't be tossed. They actually banned screens in classrooms up to 2nd grade EXCEPT for the diagnostic testing because it's an essential teaching tool and parents benefit too.

Please don't advocate for a district wide change on this until you've actually learned how iReady is used across the district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate that kids must play a video game "Brain Break" in the middle of their test. That is completely unsupported by neuroscience. Also, doing math with a pencil and paper is much better for learning than doing it on a computer. There is a clear link between the introduction of EdTech and falling test scores. That's why many countries around the world, like Sweden and Norway, are moving away from EdTech.

Also, you may have noticed a wide variation in your kid's test scores on iReady. Your kid's score goes up, it goes down, it's not linear. That's because it's not scientific.

My kid's iReady test scores have been completely linear for 5 years. It only goes up, for both reading and math.

My ADHD kid’s scores go up and down, though their EOY scores are linear. All of my NT kid’s scores (BOY, MOY, EOY) are linear.

It sounds like you already had an ADHD diagnosis but this is actually an argument in favor of diagnostic testing -- scores that bounce around can be a sign of undiagnosed ADHD and can be useful info for teachers and parents alike. But the only way to get that info is if they school is collecting those data points over time to help reveal these patterns.

I'm not a parent who loves testing (I loathe CAPE, for instance) but I love information and iReady diagnostics are some of the best info parents get from DCPS about their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You also need to advocate to remove I-Ready scores from teacher’s TAS scores as well. I have to have 80% of my students meet or exceed their stretch goal (go read what I-Ready says about stretch goals). If I have a student well below level or well above level, the content they are being assessed on is essentially I-Ready content. If kids don’t do those lessons, they won’t make the stretch goal. So yes, they will need to do lessons in class. When I didn’t have that goal, we didn’t do lessons, just the diagnostics.

As a parent I also really wish this wasn’t the case. I see such a difference in how the EOY test is administered vs the BOY and MOY ones. My kid gets rushed through the earlier ones. For the EOY, DC gets several days if they need it and they are encouraged to take their time. Totally different than the earlier ones. Their school also does special small groups before the EOY to teach some of the iready material that hasn’t come up in class. And the school also does tons of awards and prizes for making goals for EOY. It feels like the teachers deliberately hold back on teaching some the iready-specific stuff until May so that they can show growth. It works because my DC always does the best percentile-wise in the EOY. But I don’t like how differently it’s handled. It feels like they are manipulating the scores because that’s how they are being evaluated. I can’t blame them if that’s the incentive but I wish it weren’t the case.

So suspicious of your kids' teachers.

Have you discussed this with them? Our teachers have been supportive of things like giving my kids time for diagnostic tests (including the BOY and MOY tests). I've never encountered teachers "holding back" content to try and artificially boost a score. We've been at two elementary schools. This just sounds unprofessional.

My impression is that a lot of parents are uneducated about iReady and don't really understand how it's used and why it's used. I have wondered if this push to eliminate the contract is coming from parents of younger kids who don't yet get how it works and the benefits of the diagnostic testing.

I'll also note that the LA Unified School District just recently passed tighter anti-screen rules this spring and even they understood that iReady diagnostic testing shouldn't be tossed. They actually banned screens in classrooms up to 2nd grade EXCEPT for the diagnostic testing because it's an essential teaching tool and parents benefit too.

Please don't advocate for a district wide change on this until you've actually learned how iReady is used across the district.

I’m not the PP who is advocating for anything re: the iready contract. But I do think it’s problematic for teacher evaluations to be tied to iready this much. It incentivizes things like what I described.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You also need to advocate to remove I-Ready scores from teacher’s TAS scores as well. I have to have 80% of my students meet or exceed their stretch goal (go read what I-Ready says about stretch goals). If I have a student well below level or well above level, the content they are being assessed on is essentially I-Ready content. If kids don’t do those lessons, they won’t make the stretch goal. So yes, they will need to do lessons in class. When I didn’t have that goal, we didn’t do lessons, just the diagnostics.

As a parent I also really wish this wasn’t the case. I see such a difference in how the EOY test is administered vs the BOY and MOY ones. My kid gets rushed through the earlier ones. For the EOY, DC gets several days if they need it and they are encouraged to take their time. Totally different than the earlier ones. Their school also does special small groups before the EOY to teach some of the iready material that hasn’t come up in class. And the school also does tons of awards and prizes for making goals for EOY. It feels like the teachers deliberately hold back on teaching some the iready-specific stuff until May so that they can show growth. It works because my DC always does the best percentile-wise in the EOY. But I don’t like how differently it’s handled. It feels like they are manipulating the scores because that’s how they are being evaluated. I can’t blame them if that’s the incentive but I wish it weren’t the case.

So suspicious of your kids' teachers.

Have you discussed this with them? Our teachers have been supportive of things like giving my kids time for diagnostic tests (including the BOY and MOY tests). I've never encountered teachers "holding back" content to try and artificially boost a score. We've been at two elementary schools. This just sounds unprofessional.

My impression is that a lot of parents are uneducated about iReady and don't really understand how it's used and why it's used. I have wondered if this push to eliminate the contract is coming from parents of younger kids who don't yet get how it works and the benefits of the diagnostic testing.

I'll also note that the LA Unified School District just recently passed tighter anti-screen rules this spring and even they understood that iReady diagnostic testing shouldn't be tossed. They actually banned screens in classrooms up to 2nd grade EXCEPT for the diagnostic testing because it's an essential teaching tool and parents benefit too.

Please don't advocate for a district wide change on this until you've actually learned how iReady is used across the district.

I’m not the PP who is advocating for anything re: the iready contract. But I do think it’s problematic for teacher evaluations to be tied to iready this much. It incentivizes things like what I described.

Yep. My DD scored super high on the iReady BOY test, then scored 3 points lower on the EOY test.

That was fine with me and with DD.

But the teacher had her take it again and was thrilled when she scored 16 points higher. A waste of my DD's time, but important for the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

I have a kid in the same situation and it doesn't bother me. The truth is that if you have a kid in middle elementary reading at a middle or high school level, there is no diagnostic test that will solve the problem of finding challenging content for your kid. I actually though iReady was an okay solution when my kid was in 1st and reading at a 5th grade level -- she wound up doing iReady nonfiction assignments during reading in class, and while originally I was like "why can't she read a book" that actually wound up being great because it introduced her to a different sort of reading and the reading comp questions challenged her in a way just reading a book from the library would not. Also it's very hard to find appropriate content for kids like this. A lot of middle school books are simply not appropriate for an early or mid elementary kid. It's hard.

But I actually still appreciate that the iReady diagnostics helped us realize what was going on early. That and the DIBELs testing helped us recognize she was an advanced reader and find ways to challenge her at home. Without those numbers we might not have realized how far ahead she was and might have misread her extreme boredom at school as inattention, which it wasn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

I have a kid in the same situation and it doesn't bother me. The truth is that if you have a kid in middle elementary reading at a middle or high school level, there is no diagnostic test that will solve the problem of finding challenging content for your kid. I actually though iReady was an okay solution when my kid was in 1st and reading at a 5th grade level -- she wound up doing iReady nonfiction assignments during reading in class, and while originally I was like "why can't she read a book" that actually wound up being great because it introduced her to a different sort of reading and the reading comp questions challenged her in a way just reading a book from the library would not. Also it's very hard to find appropriate content for kids like this. A lot of middle school books are simply not appropriate for an early or mid elementary kid. It's hard.

But I actually still appreciate that the iReady diagnostics helped us realize what was going on early. That and the DIBELs testing helped us recognize she was an advanced reader and find ways to challenge her at home. Without those numbers we might not have realized how far ahead she was and might have misread her extreme boredom at school as inattention, which it wasn't.

Same. We were able to figure out very early on that our DC needed some enrichment at home. For our other DC, who started K behind but jumped ahead sometime in first grade, it helped us figure that out and then also challenge them when they were ready. And I also agree these kinds of programs are one of the few ways to teach the above grade level reading comp to the kids who are ready for it. They aren’t likely to be going over it in class even in small groups, which in our experience only went a grade or so ahead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

Oh wow, I didn’t even think about this. If the content maxes out in 8th grade and my kid is already at that level, I bet this will happen to them too. Bummer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

This would be true of most diagnostics and your kids solution is fine. It's not a good reason to fail to renew the iReady contract because some shortsighted parents of younger kids don't understand that it's currently the ONLY diagnostic tool available in upper elementary or middle school.

I'd support investigating if, for instance, MAP is a better option (some suburban districts use MAP), but we shouldn't cancel iReady until there's something else lined up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

This would be true of most diagnostics and your kids solution is fine. It's not a good reason to fail to renew the iReady contract because some shortsighted parents of younger kids don't understand that it's currently the ONLY diagnostic tool available in upper elementary or middle school.

I'd support investigating if, for instance, MAP is a better option (some suburban districts use MAP), but we shouldn't cancel iReady until there's something else lined up.

Lots of charter schools in DC use MAP (BASIS does and I think ITDS and others as well).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

This would be true of most diagnostics and your kids solution is fine. It's not a good reason to fail to renew the iReady contract because some shortsighted parents of younger kids don't understand that it's currently the ONLY diagnostic tool available in upper elementary or middle school.

I'd support investigating if, for instance, MAP is a better option (some suburban districts use MAP), but we shouldn't cancel iReady until there's something else lined up.

Lots of charter schools in DC use MAP (BASIS does and I think ITDS and others as well).

Worth looking into. In advance of contract renewal. And worth it to consider how the transition would work -- parents and teachers would need support in understanding the new system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

This would be true of most diagnostics and your kids solution is fine. It's not a good reason to fail to renew the iReady contract because some shortsighted parents of younger kids don't understand that it's currently the ONLY diagnostic tool available in upper elementary or middle school.

I'd support investigating if, for instance, MAP is a better option (some suburban districts use MAP), but we shouldn't cancel iReady until there's something else lined up.

Lots of charter schools in DC use MAP (BASIS does and I think ITDS and others as well).

Worth looking into. In advance of contract renewal. And worth it to consider how the transition would work -- parents and teachers would need support in understanding the new system.

So does SH for what it’s worth… so some DCPSes definitely use MAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, just to add that of all the digital platforms used by my Dcps middle school, Iready is the only one that actively teaches remedial skills. Delta math is sort of up to the teacher but typically follows grade level content, Zearn pretty strictly follows the grade level content. All of them have weaknesses though and are probably overused

But iReady doesn’t align with grade level content taught in DCPS. Kids are tested on stuff they aren’t learning in class. So what’s the point?

In addition to reinforcing remedial math, I know kids (including mine) who genuinely learn a lot of above-grade-level math through iReady.

And as a PP said, it's used as a primary diagnostic tool three times a year.

I don't love EdTech and think schools should eliminate many of the programs, but iready is actually one of the more useful programs. I would eliminate every other app before going after iReady in elementary.

Counter point- my kid learning nothing from iready. She’s maxed out the score according to data and she still has to practice when she finishes all other work. That isn’t differentiation, it’s busy work.

It's not possible to max out an iReady score because they will just give your kid higher level questions until they find her level. My kid's reading score in 3rd is equivalent to a 7th grade reading level. He "maxed out" the iReady 3rd grade content but the test adapts to find his true level, which is helpful for identifying books appropriate for his level.

If your child "has" to do iReady in class when she finishes other work, that's a teacher problem, not an iReady problem. But also you can get around it. I've told teachers I don't want my kid doing iReady when he finishes work early. We send in books for him to read or request math puzzles for him to work on, and they've always been fine with this. I've also taught my kid not to rush through work -- take time and review things, rather than rushing through only to get stuck doing iReady. He'll rewrite paragraphs and double check math, these are useful skills. Other kids rush in order to "play on the iPad" (i.e. do iReady). They aren't doing a good job with their non-iReady assignments either, they are just addicted to screens. That's a parenting issue.

The reading diagnostic will max out on content when a kid starts out at least three grade levels above on the BOY. It then gives them the same or similar questions for the following two diagnostics. Although it’s possible to get a score that fits into a grade level more than three above, the content and the descriptions in the reports max out at three above. So my fifth grader gets a score that doesn’t appear in the norms tables until 10th grade but they get 8th grade content on the diagnostic. And then they get the same questions on the diagnostic all year. A little silly but I also understand nobody is super worried about my kid in this circumstance.

The actual solution to this is to exempt kids who max out the reading diagnostic from taking the test after BOY. My middle school kids got the SAME PASSAGES for three years and it taught them to blow off the stupid test.

This would be true of most diagnostics and your kids solution is fine. It's not a good reason to fail to renew the iReady contract because some shortsighted parents of younger kids don't understand that it's currently the ONLY diagnostic tool available in upper elementary or middle school.

I'd support investigating if, for instance, MAP is a better option (some suburban districts use MAP), but we shouldn't cancel iReady until there's something else lined up.

Lots of charter schools in DC use MAP (BASIS does and I think ITDS and others as well).

Worth looking into. In advance of contract renewal. And worth it to consider how the transition would work -- parents and teachers would need support in understanding the new system.

So does SH for what it’s worth… so some DCPSes definitely use MAP.

Interesting. Do they also use iReady? Did they have to get permission to use MAP instead? Do they use it for any form of tracking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate EdTech and DCPS should absolutely NOT cancel their iReady contract.

The primary purpose of iReady in DCPS is diagnostic and for tracking. Kids do iReady tests at the beginning, middle, and end of each year to help teachers identify where they are and how well they are learning. This is also how many teachers assign small groups to ensure kids are with peers at a similar level, or customize assignments to ensure kids are being appropriately challenged.

If DCPS cancels iReady without a diagnostic replacement, teachers will have no objective way to measure this. Parents will also be completely in the dark. It would be incredibly shortsighted to get rid of it without a replacement lined up.

What most of you object to is using iReady for learning and I agree, but schools and teachers actually have more leeway than you think on this point. So do parents. My kids don't do iReady homework assignment, for instance. If a teacher comments on this, I tell them we limit EdTech and believe kids learn better with pencil and paper, and teachers have actually provided written assignments when I say this. We also supplement at home if we think they need it. But we've also had teachers who intentionally don't use iReady in the classroom for learning, and my kids have been at two different schools -- one that pushed iReady hard every day and one that uses it mostly for diagnostics and sometimes to help kids who are below grade level close the gap.

If DC really wants to get rid of iReady, we should investigate alternative programs, like MAP for diagnostic testing and tracking.

I was told by many people in DC that tracking was inequitable.

What an unhelpful comment. Also, PP is not describing tracking anyway — small groups are different. And my kid’s school definitely uses iready to assign the small groups.

What a poor practice that school is implementing.