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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a high school English teacher, and I used to assume that I could assess my young child's reading level.  However, after my sister (who teaches second grade) actually showed me a pile of marked DRA assessment papers (the pages the teachers write on while/after administering the DRA test), as well as the accompanying copies of student-completed papers and the DRA books that matched each set of paperwork, it was clear that there is a lot more to assessing a young child's reading level than I had known.  I had NOT accurately assessed my own child's reading level.

There is much more to "reading level" than you realize, OP.  Yes, you spend more time with your child and read with her, and you are assuredly aware of her "level" in SOME components of literacy, but you aren't aware of all components of reading/literacy that the teacher must assess.

[b]My sister and her colleagues are forbidden to show parents the paperwork that was used in assessing the child's DRA[/b], but maybe your child's teacher can share?  (she will be reluctant if you have been combative or condescending in your attempts to "correct" her, though).

[/quote]

why forbidden??  [/quote]

I'll ask my sister when I see her tomorrow.  For now, I'll say that I agree that the teachers can't show the little books that the child reads as part of the DRA assessment because these are reused, but there is more to the situation, judging from what my sister showed me.  The paperwork that accompanies each book (and is filled out by the teacher while the child reads, etc. in the DRA test) has a short selection from the exact text from the book, and the teacher writes on her version as the child reads, making marks on each word as the child says it to indicate errors, etc., and then there is a calculation of whatever this part is meant to assess (it isn't just decoding, but things such as added syllables, skipping words/lines, pronunciation, etc.).  The teacher also times the child reading on a stopwatch and records the time on the DRA paperwork.  The time is a small part of determining the final score, though there are many other components.  Some include: the child's answer when she is asked to make a prediction about how the story might end, etc. before finishing the story, and the child's answers to other questions after she has read the story.  Finally, the child herself completes written work after reading the story, and the child's written work is also factored into the total score.  I don't see how showing an of this paperwork to parents could hurt, since the paperwork contains only a very small selection of text from the story: there is no way that a parent could walk away from a viewing of the paperwork with any knowledge that could enable test-prepping/academic dishonesty.

My sister showed me the DRA paperwork from a batch of students she'd "DRA'ed" just that afternoon in school.  She'd taken the paperwork home with her (she came to my house that day), and she sat down to tally up all components for the final scores at my kitchen table as soon as she arrived.

Here's what I don't like about the DRA (judging by what I saw): there is a lot of wiggle room in how each portion of the test is assessed.  My sister said that, in the text selection that is scored by syllable as the child reads out loud, some of her colleagues don't take points off/mark issues such as addition of extra syllables ("uh"), and there are multiple similar, small issues that mean a child's DRA score could differ according to the individual teacher administering the test.  The differences wouldn't be huge, but enough to impact the final score/level to a small degree.  But, OP, this is also why I don't take the DRA so very seriously: what mattered to me was whether or not my child liked reading.  I never questioned her teachers, but I did encourage her to read whatever she wanted at home.

The strongest students in my secondary English classes generally enjoy reading, and they read for pl: easure.  I'm not an elementary teacher, so I could be WAY off base here, but I don't believe that anybody fully comprehends all elements of any text on "first read".  One notices more about a text (plot elements, depths of character development, tone, imagery/symbolism, etc.) each time one rereads the same book.  Students who love Wuthering Heights and understand it the best are students who enjoyed reading it, and maybe read it more than once for this reason.  For these reasons, I was never bothered when my child chose to pleasure-read a book "above her level", even if she clearly did not comprehend some major aspects of that text, because (for me) the most important thing was that she WAS voluntarily reading.  Full comprehension comes with time, but it comes faster and easier to people who love reading.

B/c they reuse - they can't show the parent the precise testing.  A teacher could show a book from another level that the kid won't be tested on anymore but you can't see your kid's exact write up or book he read.[/quote][/quote]

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