Reading level not tied to writing

[Anonymous]

In this MCPS document about report cards they very clearly state that written comprehension is not a factor used to determine the reading level. Our school is one of those that required children to pass written responses to questions starting in Kindergarten. That kept a lot of fluent readers who could orally answer questions at very low levels. This is the way the principal showed "progress" to his superiors. The teacher who told us that if they did not do this the advanced kids would stay at the same reading level for three or even more years as their writing caught up.
I am not thrilled with the way our school is doing this but not overly upset either. I do not like that the county explicitly says that the reading level on the report card reflects the reading level without writing because it is factually untrue and can hurt a child if they are being compared to other children whose schools follow the criteria for private school admissions or admission to the HGC or middle school magnets.
Does anyone know if this has language has been officially changed? If we are considering private schools should we get a letter from the school explaining the way they do reading levels?




How is the instructional reading level determined?

Daily small group reading instruction is the strongest reflection of a student’s reading level for grading and reporting purposes.

The text level reported on a report card is the student’s instructional text level used daily in small group guided reading instruction.
A reading instructional text level is determined by the student’s accuracy (90% and above) and comprehension of literary and informational text. Comprehension is determined by interactive, oral discussions that reflect inferential and critical understanding of text as judged by teacher observation during small group reading instruction.

Although written comprehension is important and is part of instruction, it is not a factor used to determine the reading level.


http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx

[Anonymous]

We were told that going from Level L to Level M of reading requires a writing "equivalent".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In this MCPS document about report cards they very clearly state that written comprehension is not a factor used to determine the reading level. Our school is one of those that required children to pass written responses to questions starting in Kindergarten. That kept a lot of fluent readers who could orally answer questions at very low levels. This is the way the principal showed "progress" to his superiors. The teacher who told us that if they did not do this the advanced kids would stay at the same reading level for three or even more years as their writing caught up.
I am not thrilled with the way our school is doing this but not overly upset either. I do not like that the county explicitly says that the reading level on the report card reflects the reading level without writing because it is factually untrue and can hurt a child if they are being compared to other children whose schools follow the criteria for private school admissions or admission to the HGC or middle school magnets.
Does anyone know if this has language has been officially changed? If we are considering private schools should we get a letter from the school explaining the way they do reading levels?




How is the instructional reading level determined?

Daily small group reading instruction is the strongest reflection of a student’s reading level for grading and reporting purposes.

The text level reported on a report card is the student’s instructional text level used daily in small group guided reading instruction.
A reading instructional text level is determined by the student’s accuracy (90% and above) and comprehension of literary and informational text. Comprehension is determined by interactive, oral discussions that reflect inferential and critical understanding of text as judged by teacher observation during small group reading instruction.

Although written comprehension is important and is part of instruction, it is not a factor used to determine the reading level.


http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx

All MCPS do that, and it's starting at level 16, which is benchmark for the end of first grade. To take that component out, MCPS would have to change to (and purchase) a completely different leveling system, although I don't know of any that don't eventually have a written comprehension component. Relax--your child will not be kept out of the HGC or magnets because their reading level was only 1.5 grades above.

[Anonymous]

I don't think the writing is about the grammar or spelling. Rather, it's about whether a child can articulate the answer to a question about what they read. In the younger grades, a verbal answer usually is sufficient. Comprehension should be part of reading level.

FWIW - when we moved here when my DC was going into 2nd grade, DC got pegged at two grades below the level DC was at in our previous school district. I was surprised, and so was the teacher; the reading specialist had tested DC.

The teacher stated that it was probably the verbal/written responses, which DC was not used to. Teacher wanted to work with DC for the next quarter and re-assess. Sure, enough, DC's reading level started to accelerate. By end of 2nd grade, DC was back to two grades above.

That's not to say that every teacher/school does follow this. Maybe talk to the teacher first?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In this MCPS document about report cards they very clearly state that written comprehension is not a factor used to determine the reading level. Our school is one of those that required children to pass written responses to questions starting in Kindergarten. That kept a lot of fluent readers who could orally answer questions at very low levels. This is the way the principal showed "progress" to his superiors. The teacher who told us that if they did not do this the advanced kids would stay at the same reading level for three or even more years as their writing caught up.
I am not thrilled with the way our school is doing this but not overly upset either. I do not like that the county explicitly says that the reading level on the report card reflects the reading level without writing because it is factually untrue and can hurt a child if they are being compared to other children whose schools follow the criteria for private school admissions or admission to the HGC or middle school magnets.
Does anyone know if this has language has been officially changed? If we are considering private schools should we get a letter from the school explaining the way they do reading levels?




How is the instructional reading level determined?

Daily small group reading instruction is the strongest reflection of a student’s reading level for grading and reporting purposes.

The text level reported on a report card is the student’s instructional text level used daily in small group guided reading instruction.
A reading instructional text level is determined by the student’s accuracy (90% and above) and comprehension of literary and informational text. Comprehension is determined by interactive, oral discussions that reflect inferential and critical understanding of text as judged by teacher observation during small group reading instruction.

Although written comprehension is important and is part of instruction, it is not a factor used to determine the reading level.


http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/2.0/reportcardfaq.aspx

All MCPS do that, and it's starting at level 16, which is benchmark for the end of first grade. To take that component out, MCPS would have to change to (and purchase) a completely different leveling system, although I don't know of any that don't eventually have a written comprehension component. Relax--your child will not be kept out of the HGC or magnets because their reading level was only 1.5 grades above.

No, our school started requiring written answers at level 8 and, no, it's not universal. There are kids in K-1st at some schools that are allowed to work at M, N or higher if they can give verbal responses. At some schools you have to be at M AND in 2nd or above to have to do the writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the writing is about the grammar or spelling. Rather, it's about whether a child can articulate the answer to a question about what they read. In the younger grades, a verbal answer usually is sufficient. Comprehension should be part of reading level.

FWIW - when we moved here when my DC was going into 2nd grade, DC got pegged at two grades below the level DC was at in our previous school district. I was surprised, and so was the teacher; the reading specialist had tested DC.

The teacher stated that it was probably the verbal/written responses, which DC was not used to. Teacher wanted to work with DC for the next quarter and re-assess. Sure, enough, DC's reading level started to accelerate. By end of 2nd grade, DC was back to two grades above.

That's not to say that every teacher/school does follow this. Maybe talk to the teacher first?

That's the point of the post. The whole school doesn't follow this.

[Anonymous]

Decoding and comprehension can be very asynchronous. For other children they can track together. Expecting written responses to comprehension questions in 2nd grade is on-grade, and if a K-er is reading and comprehending 2nd grade texts perfectly but is struggling with writing, then it's unlikely that that K-er should be moving on to 3rd grade texts, from a maturity level, anyway. No child is harmed by tying requiring written responses to comprehension questions.

[Anonymous]

They really need to purchase another reading comprehension test. Writing should not be linked to reading comprehension. It isn't on the SAT, the ACT, or the GRE. The current assessment takes too long to administer and because it is administered one on one, it takes away from whole class and small group instructional time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They really need to purchase another reading comprehension test. Writing should not be linked to reading comprehension. It isn't on the SAT, the ACT, or the GRE. The current assessment takes too long to administer and because it is administered one on one, it takes away from whole class and small group instructional time.

Agree - they shouldn't be linked in early elementary. Also you're right about the assessment. They take a few months of the year performing these when the time could be spent. Something like the MAP-P for reading would probably better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Decoding and comprehension can be very asynchronous. For other children they can track together. Expecting written responses to comprehension questions in 2nd grade is on-grade, and if a K-er is reading and comprehending 2nd grade texts perfectly but is struggling with writing, then it's unlikely that that K-er should be moving on to 3rd grade texts, from a maturity level, anyway. No child is harmed by tying requiring written responses to comprehension questions.

That's absolutely false. Do you know anything about education and have you ever looked at the science that shows many kids aren't developmentally ready to write as well as they can think or speak in early elementary? This type of ignorant thinking leads hurting some of the most vulnerable kids who check out of school early because they are not interested in the work. It is not okay to force a child who can read chapter books to read Bob-type books and discuss them because he can't write even though he's able to articulate the answers to comprehension questions. They are completely different skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were told that going from Level L to Level M of reading requires a writing "equivalent".

Writing usually improves as reading improves.

You learn to read first before you learn to write.

low reading = low writing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Decoding and comprehension can be very asynchronous. For other children they can track together. Expecting written responses to comprehension questions in 2nd grade is on-grade, and if a K-er is reading and comprehending 2nd grade texts perfectly but is struggling with writing, then it's unlikely that that K-er should be moving on to 3rd grade texts, from a maturity level, anyway. No child is harmed by tying requiring written responses to comprehension questions.

That's absolutely false. Do you know anything about education and have you ever looked at the science that shows many kids aren't developmentally ready to write as well as they can think or speak in early elementary? This type of ignorant thinking leads hurting some of the most vulnerable kids who check out of school early because they are not interested in the work. It is not okay to force a child who can read chapter books to read Bob-type books and discuss them because he can't write even though he's able to articulate the answers to comprehension questions. They are completely different skills.

This. Even our child's 1st grade teacher said this, and thinks that they require too much in the way of writing in the reading assessments.

[Anonymous]

What type of writing is expected at level 16? Is it who are the main characters, what is the setting, etc? Or are they more complicated? Are they just looking for content or accurate spelling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They really need to purchase another reading comprehension test. Writing should not be linked to reading comprehension. It isn't on the SAT, the ACT, or the GRE. The current assessment takes too long to administer and because it is administered one on one, it takes away from whole class and small group instructional time.

But it is basically the entirety of PARCC. They need to respond in writing to various passages to demonstrate comprehension. Math too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What type of writing is expected at level 16? Is it who are the main characters, what is the setting, etc? Or are they more complicated? Are they just looking for content or accurate spelling?

It can be more than character and setting; for example, understanding the moral of a story. I also believe they're just looking for content so the mechanics of writing are ignored.