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[quote=Anonymous]I would tread lightly so you don’t offend the teacher and make her/him defensive. IME, there was a lot of fluidity to reading groups in K and 1st, with a bit less in 2nd. By 3rd grade there was very little fluidity.

My dc’s first grade teacher did not administer the reading assessment in the spring to kids who were well above grade level, but we still got the letter from MCPS, stating that our child had recently been assessed. They just reported the winter results again, without disclosing that these were old results. I thought my child hadn’t progressed. Then, in the fall of second grade, for some reason, my dc tested lower on the reading assessment than they ever did in first grade (perhaps it was the writing component?). They were placed in a reading group that was reading all of the books my child had already covered in first grade. I didn’t find out until parent-teacher conferences. I expressed concern and surprise because by this time, my child was reading much longer, more complicated texts at home and clearly comprehending them. The teacher didn’t budge.

When my dc took the MAP-R in the winter of second grade, they tested many levels higher and got moved to the highest reading group. I was glad dc was back on track. I made sure to check in about the spring reading assessment score, and guess what? Once again my child wasn’t tested in the spring because dc had maxed out on the score in the winter and therefore wouldn’t be tested again until 3rd grade, when they administer a test with higher reading levels. Again I received the letter informing me that dc had recently been assessed when they had not, and the winter score was reported.

By third grade, our school didn’t move kids between classrooms for reading to group kids as accurately as possible. DC’s teacher taught reading to every child in her classroom. She had 4 reading groups: kids who were still just learning the basics of reading, kids who could read but were below grade level, kids who were on grade level, and kids who were above grade level. It didn’t matter if you read 1/2 a grade level above or 4 grade levels above, you would still be in the same group. DC was in the highest reading group in their class and had higher MAP-R scores than dc’s twin in another 3rd grade class, but had a lower instructional level because the instructional level was based on the group as a whole and the teacher’s determination of what level of instruction was appropriate.

In fifth grade, dc was in a local CES, and the class only had two reading groups. DC was placed in the lower one and was disappointed with the selection of novels compared to what the other group got to read. I thought dc was wrong that there were different levels in a CES, so I didn’t follow up with the teacher. More than halfway through the school year, when dc was admitted to a middle school humanities magnet, dc told me that they’d been moved to the higher group. Shortly after that, dc’s teacher approached me at a school event and actually told me that they’d never even looked at dc’s MAP-R score when they assigned reading groups, but now that they’d found that dc had the highest MAP-R in the class, they’d moved dc to the higher group. 😧

If you think your dc may be in the wrong group, you may be correct, but it’s a long road and the older your child is, the less their placement matters. Their own individual ability is more determinative.[/quote]

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