First Grader with Is in Reading on Her Report Card

[Anonymous]

My first grader is reading at a level M right now. The little chart tells me that’s 5-6 quarters ahead of grade level (M is an overlap with the last quarter of second grade/first quarter of third grade). But on her report card, she got an ‘I’ in both Reading: Informational Text and Reading: Literature (R:IT has always been an I, DC has issues explaining what she reads, R:L was a P the first two quarters and is now an I). According to the back of the report card, the definition of an ‘I’ is “In progress toward meeting the grade-level standard”. So she’s 1.25-1.5 grades ahead in reading but not meeting the grade level standard? This makes no sense to me.

I think what she’s reading in school is way too easy (she completes a chapter book every 1-2 days at home) but apparently the teacher thinks it’s too hard. But if the teacher thinks it’s too hard, why has she advanced DC through the typical second grade levels (from J to M) this year?

I have a conference set up for Friday but I thought I’d ask if anyone had any insight. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Power down the chopper, mama. Chillax. It's just a first grader's report card. No one is saying your snowflake underperformed. I'm sure she's plenty challenged enough and will have the differentiation I'm sure you'll demand.

Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Oh jesus christ, I couldn't get one legitimate response before the jerks came out? Usually you have to wait 3-4 posts before someone's an ass for no reason on this board. Thanks for taking less than 120 seconds to crawl up my butt about a legitimate concern on a board that's designed to be able to chat about them.

[Anonymous]

Did she bring home any papers with I on them? I don't think it is unusual to get an I yet be above grade level. I have a second grader who is reading a year ahead as well and got some "I"s first quarter. The reading level is based on M-class testing which is an assessment tool. They are doing reading/writing tasks in class that may be looking at different things.

Also one thing I have learned is even though the books at school seem "too easy", it does not take a long or difficult story to learn about things like the main idea, character traits, lesson of the story, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes, your child is not as far ahead in reading as you thought.

[Anonymous]

Clearly she's not as far ahead as the teacher thought either. Why is she getting assigned Ms if the teacher thinks she can't handle them?

And goddamn it why are there so many assholes on this board? I get that it's anonymous and everyone feels the need to be a total troll when there are no repercussions. But just move on please. I had a legitimate question. There is no upside to jumping down my throat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did she bring home any papers with I on them? I don't think it is unusual to get an I yet be above grade level. I have a second grader who is reading a year ahead as well and got some "I"s first quarter. The reading level is based on M-class testing which is an assessment tool. They are doing reading/writing tasks in class that may be looking at different things.

Also one thing I have learned is even though the books at school seem "too easy", it does not take a long or difficult story to learn about things like the main idea, character traits, lesson of the story, etc.

Excellent points. We ran into a similar issue beginning in third grade.

[Anonymous]

Could there be a comprehension issue? You're right, though. It makes no sense.

[Anonymous]

I am with the pp regarding comprehension. I think reading above grade level doesn't necessarily translate to understanding the story and identify themes.

[Anonymous]

I also think its a reading comp issue, maybe she is breezing through it but not really getting what they were saying. Or maybe there is some other issue.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that she's having the same issue about explaining what she reads in "literature" as in "informational texts". One of my children had a similar issue in first grade -- she was reading long chapter books and could tell me about the plot in great detail, but she had a lot of trouble putting together written answers about character traits, how the main character solved the problem, and so on.

I think (but am not certain) that the reading-level assessment is multiple choice, whereas the grades are based on short-answer written work. So they're really measuring different things.

Why do you think that the teacher thinks the books they use in class are too hard?

[Anonymous]

My brother could read aloud to people beautifully but never understood what he was reading, and ended up being diagnosed with a learning disability. I'd talk to the teacher about her trouble explaining the book to you (or anyone), if that is in fact happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Power down the chopper, mama. Chillax. It's just a first grader's report card. No one is saying your snowflake underperformed. I'm sure she's plenty challenged enough and will have the differentiation I'm sure you'll demand.

Sigh.

She has used the same phrase many times now. One of the few 2.0 report card supporters.

[Anonymous]

If she is reading at level M that means she passed the M-class level L test which is pretty good for first grade. As PPs noted she may have had trouble with some of the classwork that was covering other areas. Definitely its not a big deal, hopefully teacher can clarify for you.

[Anonymous]

She may need hep figuring out how to answer the questions in the way the teachers wanted.