Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the benchmark is set for all students and is usually set at the 25 th or 16 th percentile. It is not set at the 50 th percentile nor does it represent "average". It is the bottom of low average and scoring below is a red flag for most students.

Says who?? I don't think the benchmark is low at all. Ten years ago that was definitely 50%, and not more. Less in many schools. Also, girls read much sooner than boys on average, so any percentile is already skewed against boys.

A benchmark is where they want all students to be. It is set either at the 25th percentile ( meaning that the middle 50%) are covered or at the second sigma, which is the 16 th percentile. It depends on the test and subject. This is the way it has been for a very long time.

I really don't understand what you mean - maybe I'm just not good at math terms. I don't think it is set that way in FCPS. I think it was set somewhat arbitrarily. Do you actually remember this happening?

It isn't set by Fairfax and it isn't arbitrarily set. It is based on science and how the test was originally constructed. If the benchmark is set at the 25 th percentile, it means "average" is the middle 50%. 25% would be below average and fail the benchmark and 25% would be above average. If it is set at the first standard deviation, then the "average" would be the middle ~68%, or from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean. So, ~16% would above average and 16% would be below average and fail the benchmark.

IQ tests uses the second example. Average IQ is set between 85 and 115.

According to Pearson, who made the DRA, that's not how it was done.

Give it time op. We were in the same boat. Ds went to a play based preschool and could only write his name going into k. At the conference I heard he has poor fine motor skills (he doesn't). Fast forward to 1st grade- his writing is one of the best in the class. It is fine, they are working on writing letters all year.

I feel like the teachers at preschool and Pre-K did most of the work in teaching my child to read and write, and then her K teachers continued that. But with 23 other kids in the class, she's only going to get so much attention. And kids who have someone helping them at home do better in school, period. Kids of educated, involved parents have an advantage.

I don't make up my own drills anymore, except in the summer and on teacher work days, but I do expect my daughter to do all homework. I do check her homework and I do look at the in-class work she brings home, and if I see something she messed up, I have her erase it and do it again.

We still have plenty of time for fun.

Writing sigh. My older son had never held a pencil correctly. I've been bringing it up since preschool. He's now a 4th grader. I get the brush off/-it doesn't matter response every time. Yet- his handwriting has caused him to miss points when a teacher can't read what he wrote.

We have little success at home. He's an A student and it seems the school's think they'll all be typing so it's a non-issue. Sigh. Public school.

Anonymous wrote:Drilling is unnecessary/inappropriate unless you have a kid that likes that kind of thing but offering abundant opportunities to practice wiring makes sense. Simple things like help you write grocery lists or make birthday cards.

I drilled for one day the stuff my K was behind on and he picked it up. I"m talking like a total of 20 minutes.

I was amazed and just realized that teachers teach a great variety of learners. We teach one. We can customize lessons and frankly, get it done more efficiently.

I'm not pushing my child beyond what he's supposed to be learning; merely reinforcing what he's learning in class.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the benchmark is set for all students and is usually set at the 25 th or 16 th percentile. It is not set at the 50 th percentile nor does it represent "average". It is the bottom of low average and scoring below is a red flag for most students.

Says who?? I don't think the benchmark is low at all. Ten years ago that was definitely 50%, and not more. Less in many schools. Also, girls read much sooner than boys on average, so any percentile is already skewed against boys.

A benchmark is where they want all students to be. It is set either at the 25th percentile ( meaning that the middle 50%) are covered or at the second sigma, which is the 16 th percentile. It depends on the test and subject. This is the way it has been for a very long time.

I really don't understand what you mean - maybe I'm just not good at math terms. I don't think it is set that way in FCPS. I think it was set somewhat arbitrarily. Do you actually remember this happening?

It isn't set by Fairfax and it isn't arbitrarily set. It is based on science and how the test was originally constructed. If the benchmark is set at the 25 th percentile, it means "average" is the middle 50%. 25% would be below average and fail the benchmark and 25% would be above average. If it is set at the first standard deviation, then the "average" would be the middle ~68%, or from one standard deviation below the mean to one standard deviation above the mean. So, ~16% would above average and 16% would be below average and fail the benchmark.

IQ tests uses the second example. Average IQ is set between 85 and 115.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:yes! unfortunately, I found out too late and DD and DS never learned a correct pencil grip. It was impossible to fix the incorrect grip that they had become accustomed to.

Why exactly does this matter?? I am an adult with an incorrect grip. I write beautifully and can do calligraphy. It's never held me back, but every single teacher until high school berated me for it.

NP here. Holding a pen incorrectly doesn't mean you can't write beautifully. It means it can be a very inefficient manner of writing, which can lead to fatigue once a child is writing a lot more. My son doesn't write his letters in the correct flow. He starts up when he should write a line down, etc. He's in OT (partially for fine motor skills) and correct handwriting is something that they emphasize.

OP, my son is also in K and he scored almost perfectly on the DRA WA2. Yet, his teacher also asked that we continue to work with him on the same things your son's teacher did- having the correct pencil grip, learning sight words, and the correct way to form letters, but in no way suggested the drill and kill method.

OP, I would not do this stuff at home. I had a teacher like this for my last year of my older son's preschool. She was way too focused on academics and was pressuring us to do all of this stuff at home with him. I don't know what to make of these teachers. Either they don't know what they're doing or they're telling parents what they think they want to hear.

Read to him often, encourage any interest he shows, work it into your daily life where it makes sense (he says...hey mom, can I have an apple...you say...sure, what letters do you hear in apple and you sound it out together), and that's about it.

No drilling or flashcards or worksheets at home. Ugh.

OP here -

Thanks for all the replies. We already do a lot of learning at home, but I'll keep trying to add in new things. I just don't think I'm willing to do serious drilling myself. I'm thinking that if my son is not progressing as fast as he needs to we'll do some tutoring over the summer. That way I don't have to be the taskmaster and we can just continue doing fun reading, writing, and art projects rather than me feeling like I'm appropriating the role of instructor.

I'm not thrilled with this teacher, though. I think she's having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to kindergarten. This is her first year as a kindergarten teacher. She has taught 2nd and 4th in the past.

Wow, That was not my experience AT ALL during the parents & teacher conference last week for my K. She does not know how to read and the teacher said not to worry because she is progressing steadily. She just emphasize to keep reading to her aloud. Didn't say ANYTHING about flashcards or any kind of drilling. FCPS here.

I read the literature that came with my DRA materials. According to that, the benchmarks are not rock bottom; they only indicate that a student is proficient. Anything higher is better than proficient and represents students in a top percentile. I looked through everything, and can't find any reason to think that the proficient level score is anything but just that, and that asking for a higher score is just asking for failure from more than half the students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the benchmark is set for all students and is usually set at the 25 th or 16 th percentile. It is not set at the 50 th percentile nor does it represent "average". It is the bottom of low average and scoring below is a red flag for most students.

Says who?? I don't think the benchmark is low at all. Ten years ago that was definitely 50%, and not more. Less in many schools. Also, girls read much sooner than boys on average, so any percentile is already skewed against boys.

A benchmark is where they want all students to be. It is set either at the 25th percentile ( meaning that the middle 50%) are covered or at the second sigma, which is the 16 th percentile. It depends on the test and subject. This is the way it has been for a very long time.

I really don't understand what you mean - maybe I'm just not good at math terms. I don't think it is set that way in FCPS. I think it was set somewhat arbitrarily. Do you actually remember this happening?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Remember the benchmark is set for all students and is usually set at the 25 th or 16 th percentile. It is not set at the 50 th percentile nor does it represent "average". It is the bottom of low average and scoring below is a red flag for most students.

Says who?? I don't think the benchmark is low at all. Ten years ago that was definitely 50%, and not more. Less in many schools. Also, girls read much sooner than boys on average, so any percentile is already skewed against boys.

A benchmark is where they want all students to be. It is set either at the 25th percentile ( meaning that the middle 50%) are covered or at the second sigma, which is the 16 th percentile. It depends on the test and subject. This is the way it has been for a very long time.

Never had an experience like that in FCPS kinder. I would not do any of those things. Sounds like a very young K teacher.