Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess Benchmark isn’t the savior they thought it would be. Benchmark is the problem. My child hated LA last year due to the new Benchmark curriculum. It was dry and boring and mostly nonfiction. Thankfully they moved on to middle school, where there is no Benchmark and they are back to book clubs. My child is happy and reading again!

My child reads far more outside of school than inside of school. You should try the library sometime. Barnes & Noble is also having a resurgence. It's not the school's responsibility to get your child to read more books, that's your job.

X1000

Anonymous wrote:I guess Benchmark isn’t the savior they thought it would be. Benchmark is the problem. My child hated LA last year due to the new Benchmark curriculum. It was dry and boring and mostly nonfiction. Thankfully they moved on to middle school, where there is no Benchmark and they are back to book clubs. My child is happy and reading again!

My child reads far more outside of school than inside of school. You should try the library sometime. Barnes & Noble is also having a resurgence. It's not the school's responsibility to get your child to read more books, that's your job.

Anonymous wrote:For some kids the iReady is useless. They don’t take it seriously. They lack patience to take a long test. They guess and slop through the questions to get to the game or recess.

This is my kid exactly
-OP

For some kids the iReady is useless. They don’t take it seriously. They lack patience to take a long test. They guess and slop through the questions to get to the game or recess.

Anonymous wrote:He’s already got an IEP and is pulled for small group.
-OP

As a parent whose kid has an IEP I use iReady scores as a tool to assess if my child needs more help. It could just be a bad day but if the winter/spring test shows limited to no growth then the year end IEP meeting would be discussing what supports or testing they need going forward. As an aside, teachers have the test scores almost immediately after the test, some are more willing than others to give you the score if you ask but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Anonymous wrote:I guess Benchmark isn’t the savior they thought it would be. Benchmark is the problem. My child hated LA last year due to the new Benchmark curriculum. It was dry and boring and mostly nonfiction. Thankfully they moved on to middle school, where there is no Benchmark and they are back to book clubs. My child is happy and reading again!

I thought DCUM didn’t like this in the ES. You know…textbook, textbook, textbook.

I look at the general trend. In my limited experience, if there is no growth then the kid isn't being challenged and I start supplementing at home.

Anonymous wrote:The Benchmark standards and the iReady standards are not the same, either are the assessments. With Benchmark filling the majority of language arts time, teachers have little to no time to teach students things that will be in the iReady test. Kids who are already receiving interventions should show growth but in most cases this year they did not. This means something else is wrong, wish I had the answer. Scores really low this year.

Interestingly, my child's iReady scores went up a LOT after FCPS started Benchmark. I am still very pleased with the Benchmark curriculum - my child is learning how to spell and is learning proper grammar, plus is writing a lot more on paper than my older child ever did. My poor 7th grader still struggles with grammar and spelling because noone ever taught it to him.

I guess Benchmark isn’t the savior they thought it would be. Benchmark is the problem. My child hated LA last year due to the new Benchmark curriculum. It was dry and boring and mostly nonfiction. Thankfully they moved on to middle school, where there is no Benchmark and they are back to book clubs. My child is happy and reading again!

The Benchmark standards and the iReady standards are not the same, either are the assessments. With Benchmark filling the majority of language arts time, teachers have little to no time to teach students things that will be in the iReady test. Kids who are already receiving interventions should show growth but in most cases this year they did not. This means something else is wrong, wish I had the answer. Scores really low this year.

He’s already got an IEP and is pulled for small group.
-OP

Anonymous wrote:Yes, they matter. Teachers look closely at them to determine who needs extra help, who isn't showing growth, and who might need a support class in middle school.

Was going to say don’t matter if not trying for AAP but above poster is right teachers may pull kid for extra help if bomb them. If middle pack, seemed most felt didn’t matter.

The current iReady scores, and lack of growth that students are showing, are a direct result of the School Board, Superintendent, and Language Arts Departments choosing to assess students on standards that are not being taught. This decision was one of many poor decisions that FCPS leadership has made in the past 5 or years that have resulted in the school district being stuck and in some cases moving backwards. Yes, you should care.

Yes, they matter. Teachers look closely at them to determine who needs extra help, who isn't showing growth, and who might need a support class in middle school.

My child did significantly worse on the second one this year. He is in sixth grade. Do these matter?