APS and Lexia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Your kid was not placed at their initial starting level by a teacher. They did a diagnostic test to see what skills they lacked and the program places them according to their performance on the diagnostic. So, if they didn't try their best or phoned it in or whatever during the diagnostic, that is not on the teacher or APS. If your child is proficient in the skills, they will move through fairly quickly if they are putting their minutes in. That is why we are discouraged from auto placing students who seem "low" after the diagnostic in the program.

I had a student who tested out super low and I pushed for them to be reset and they took the diagnostic again.....SAME LEVEL in round 2. So the best bet is for you to push your child to meet their target in order to move forward in the program. If you want specific data on why your child seems "stuck" in a skill area your teacher can provide more data to you, we can see what skills the student is receiving instruction on multiple times because they aren't getting it via the teacher dashboard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, while I understand your concern, it might be time to sit with her a few minutes each time that lesson/Lexia time is assigned. Helping to keep her on track for a few minutes would solve this. Also, you could see if teacher is open to the Lexia being completed after school. I’m giving ours the option to do app content outside of school hours if they read during that time.

OP here again. Thank you all for helping me figure out what questions I should be asking her teacher. I’ve asked her some but they clearly weren’t the right ones since the answers were still unclear.

I do sit with her for most of the day. We have four other kids doing school at our house so my full attention isn’t on her all the time and I think that’s pretty common. I’m going to try to better understand when I should be seeing her on Lexia during the day. It’s much less clear with her teacher than it is with my third grader’s.

It’s frustrating to me that she often spends more time and energy on her school work during the day than my older ones do. I know it frustrates her sometimes too. This last Monday was the first in a long time where we have been done working on asynchronous work before 5...she and I are often exhausted at the end of the school day so I’m hesitant to have her do Lexia after school. Maybe I should see if I can figure out when the goal resets. If it’s Friday night, I could probably get her to do a reasonable chunk on the weekend and that would certainly be helpful and less overwhelming during the week. I know 12 minutes a day doesn’t sound like a lot but we are also supposed to do 20 minutes of reading after school so it’s an extra half an hour that maybe I just need to block into my after school scheduling.

Asynchronous should be 2.5 hours max. I’d pick what you think is most important and tell her teacher you stopped at 2.5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Your kid was not placed at their initial starting level by a teacher. They did a diagnostic test to see what skills they lacked and the program places them according to their performance on the diagnostic. So, if they didn't try their best or phoned it in or whatever during the diagnostic, that is not on the teacher or APS. If your child is proficient in the skills, they will move through fairly quickly if they are putting their minutes in. That is why we are discouraged from auto placing students who seem "low" after the diagnostic in the program.

I had a student who tested out super low and I pushed for them to be reset and they took the diagnostic again.....SAME LEVEL in round 2. So the best bet is for you to push your child to meet their target in order to move forward in the program. If you want specific data on why your child seems "stuck" in a skill area your teacher can provide more data to you, we can see what skills the student is receiving instruction on multiple times because they aren't getting it via the teacher dashboard.

My kid was put in a level below grade level and I'm pretty sure it was just because he was goofing off during the placement test, which he did alone in his bedroom (I didn't even know it was happening until he popped out and said he was doing a test and was going downstairs to get a drink of water). It put him in a second grade level but on his reading tests last year he tested at a fifth grade level, and he scored in above the 90th percentile in every category in that other reading assessment they took (I forget the name). And he reads a ton on his own; he read all of the Keeper of the Lost Cities books over winter break.

It's not a big deal but I think that having them do all of it with no supervision is problematic. I too wish he could just read during that time.

[Anonymous]

The issue is that aps doesn’t really do a good job teaching traditional language arts— spelling, grammar, etc. This becomes painfully apparent when your kids get older and they have no idea what a noun is and are horrible spellers.

Lexia is the answer to that — it covers a traditional language arts curriculum. If your kid is several grades behind, they will encourage them to get on grade level by spending more time doing it. You should probably encourage them to get on grade level too.

Excluding someone for not doing required work is not a bad punishment, you don’t want to get in the habit of saying schoolwork is optional if it’s not “fun”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, while I understand your concern, it might be time to sit with her a few minutes each time that lesson/Lexia time is assigned. Helping to keep her on track for a few minutes would solve this. Also, you could see if teacher is open to the Lexia being completed after school. I’m giving ours the option to do app content outside of school hours if they read during that time.

OP here again. Thank you all for helping me figure out what questions I should be asking her teacher. I’ve asked her some but they clearly weren’t the right ones since the answers were still unclear.

I do sit with her for most of the day. We have four other kids doing school at our house so my full attention isn’t on her all the time and I think that’s pretty common. I’m going to try to better understand when I should be seeing her on Lexia during the day. It’s much less clear with her teacher than it is with my third grader’s.

It’s frustrating to me that she often spends more time and energy on her school work during the day than my older ones do. I know it frustrates her sometimes too. This last Monday was the first in a long time where we have been done working on asynchronous work before 5...she and I are often exhausted at the end of the school day so I’m hesitant to have her do Lexia after school. Maybe I should see if I can figure out when the goal resets. If it’s Friday night, I could probably get her to do a reasonable chunk on the weekend and that would certainly be helpful and less overwhelming during the week. I know 12 minutes a day doesn’t sound like a lot but we are also supposed to do 20 minutes of reading after school so it’s an extra half an hour that maybe I just need to block into my after school scheduling.

Goals reset on Monday.
A cheat if you are dead set on your kid not doing it— time spent in an activity (even if the iPad is locked) counts. My kid accidentally got 24 hours one week that way.
You should try to help her get her goal legitimately though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Your kid was not placed at their initial starting level by a teacher. They did a diagnostic test to see what skills they lacked and the program places them according to their performance on the diagnostic. So, if they didn't try their best or phoned it in or whatever during the diagnostic, that is not on the teacher or APS. If your child is proficient in the skills, they will move through fairly quickly if they are putting their minutes in. That is why we are discouraged from auto placing students who seem "low" after the diagnostic in the program.

I had a student who tested out super low and I pushed for them to be reset and they took the diagnostic again.....SAME LEVEL in round 2. So the best bet is for you to push your child to meet their target in order to move forward in the program. If you want specific data on why your child seems "stuck" in a skill area your teacher can provide more data to you, we can see what skills the student is receiving instruction on multiple times because they aren't getting it via the teacher dashboard.

My kid was put in a level below grade level and I'm pretty sure it was just because he was goofing off during the placement test, which he did alone in his bedroom (I didn't even know it was happening until he popped out and said he was doing a test and was going downstairs to get a drink of water). It put him in a second grade level but on his reading tests last year he tested at a fifth grade level, and he scored in above the 90th percentile in every category in that other reading assessment they took (I forget the name). And he reads a ton on his own; he read all of the Keeper of the Lost Cities books over winter break.

It's not a big deal but I think that having them do all of it with no supervision is problematic. I too wish he could just read during that time.

I could have written this post about my 3rd grader, down to the Keeper books. Mine tested at 95 percent on Dibbels. And below grade level on Lexia. Yes I’m sure it’s her fault for blowing off the placement test but education isn’t about keeping kids below what they’re capable of. The notion that a teacher can’t bump up a kid they know isn’t working to their level is stupid.

[Anonymous]

We don’t only track minutes but units gained. If your kid is logged in for hours but no units gained it’s not doing your kid any favors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my view Lexia is practically the only worthwhile thing that happens in dl

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Kids can zip through the sections pretty quickly. My kid is up 3 levels from the start of the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Your kid was not placed at their initial starting level by a teacher. They did a diagnostic test to see what skills they lacked and the program places them according to their performance on the diagnostic. So, if they didn't try their best or phoned it in or whatever during the diagnostic, that is not on the teacher or APS. If your child is proficient in the skills, they will move through fairly quickly if they are putting their minutes in. That is why we are discouraged from auto placing students who seem "low" after the diagnostic in the program.

I had a student who tested out super low and I pushed for them to be reset and they took the diagnostic again.....SAME LEVEL in round 2. So the best bet is for you to push your child to meet their target in order to move forward in the program. If you want specific data on why your child seems "stuck" in a skill area your teacher can provide more data to you, we can see what skills the student is receiving instruction on multiple times because they aren't getting it via the teacher dashboard.

My kid was put in a level below grade level and I'm pretty sure it was just because he was goofing off during the placement test, which he did alone in his bedroom (I didn't even know it was happening until he popped out and said he was doing a test and was going downstairs to get a drink of water). It put him in a second grade level but on his reading tests last year he tested at a fifth grade level, and he scored in above the 90th percentile in every category in that other reading assessment they took (I forget the name). And he reads a ton on his own; he read all of the Keeper of the Lost Cities books over winter break.

It's not a big deal but I think that having them do all of it with no supervision is problematic. I too wish he could just read during that time.

I could have written this post about my 3rd grader, down to the Keeper books. Mine tested at 95 percent on Dibbels. And below grade level on Lexia. Yes I’m sure it’s her fault for blowing off the placement test but education isn’t about keeping kids below what they’re capable of. The notion that a teacher can’t bump up a kid they know isn’t working to their level is stupid.

Lexia works through the various ELA components on a more granular level. So, maybe globally, your DC is reading at a higher grade level but they are missing a few bits from a lower grade. Nothing wrong with reviewing - especially after this crazy last year.

[Anonymous]

My daughter loves Lexia and tries to sneak it when I'm not paying attention. So much so that the teacher keeps reaching out to tell us to stop doing Lexia since we've met our weekly quota.

I can't imagine it's much extra. Maybe 30 minutes per week, but there really seems to be strict rules governing how much time there should be. Probably for comparison's sake between kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Lexia starts with a lengthy assessment. It’s not like it just plops kids into random levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But making kids work through the level is stupid. It doesn’t magically catch up when it sees what kids can do- it forces them to rehash material that may be behind them. I get that APS has invested in it and teachers have to use it. But it’s such a waste of time for my kid that I don’t care if it’s done or not.

Your kid was not placed at their initial starting level by a teacher. They did a diagnostic test to see what skills they lacked and the program places them according to their performance on the diagnostic. So, if they didn't try their best or phoned it in or whatever during the diagnostic, that is not on the teacher or APS. If your child is proficient in the skills, they will move through fairly quickly if they are putting their minutes in. That is why we are discouraged from auto placing students who seem "low" after the diagnostic in the program.

I had a student who tested out super low and I pushed for them to be reset and they took the diagnostic again.....SAME LEVEL in round 2. So the best bet is for you to push your child to meet their target in order to move forward in the program. If you want specific data on why your child seems "stuck" in a skill area your teacher can provide more data to you, we can see what skills the student is receiving instruction on multiple times because they aren't getting it via the teacher dashboard.

My kid was put in a level below grade level and I'm pretty sure it was just because he was goofing off during the placement test, which he did alone in his bedroom (I didn't even know it was happening until he popped out and said he was doing a test and was going downstairs to get a drink of water). It put him in a second grade level but on his reading tests last year he tested at a fifth grade level, and he scored in above the 90th percentile in every category in that other reading assessment they took (I forget the name). And he reads a ton on his own; he read all of the Keeper of the Lost Cities books over winter break.

It's not a big deal but I think that having them do all of it with no supervision is problematic. I too wish he could just read during that time.

I could have written this post about my 3rd grader, down to the Keeper books. Mine tested at 95 percent on Dibbels. And below grade level on Lexia. Yes I’m sure it’s her fault for blowing off the placement test but education isn’t about keeping kids below what they’re capable of. The notion that a teacher can’t bump up a kid they know isn’t working to their level is stupid.

I teach in another NOVA district and use Lexia. Teachers can reset the assessment so students can take it again. I’ve done it a handful of times for kids with huge discrepancies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter loves Lexia and tries to sneak it when I'm not paying attention. So much so that the teacher keeps reaching out to tell us to stop doing Lexia since we've met our weekly quota.

I can't imagine it's much extra. Maybe 30 minutes per week, but there really seems to be strict rules governing how much time there should be. Probably for comparison's sake between kids.

Ours likes some levels a ton, and others less so. She stays on longer than recommended as well. It’s a good fit for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter loves Lexia and tries to sneak it when I'm not paying attention. So much so that the teacher keeps reaching out to tell us to stop doing Lexia since we've met our weekly quota.

I can't imagine it's much extra. Maybe 30 minutes per week, but there really seems to be strict rules governing how much time there should be. Probably for comparison's sake between kids.

Ours likes some levels a ton, and others less so. She stays on longer than recommended as well. It’s a good fit for her.

It’s one of the few things o can reliably get her to do on asynchronous days!