Our district adopted districtwide benchmark levels three years ago but until that point, we were pretty much doing our own things. Our benchmark expectations change as the school year progresses. We expect that our fourth graders reach a level 40 to demonstrate proficiency and they may be tested to a 50 ( our benchmark kits are DRA and there is no in-between) to demonstrate an advanced achievement. Not beyond this. I think you need to be as concerned with the means of assessment, which seems so inconsistent, as with the wild bouncing in levels.
Lori Jackson District Literacy Coach and Mentor Todd County School District Box 87 Mission SD 5755 ----- Original message ----- From: Angela Almond <angela_alm...@scs.k12.nc.us> To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:54 PM Subject: [MOSAIC] Running Record/Reading Level Question(s) > I apologize in advance for this very lengthy and somewhat rookie question. > > I have been teaching for 6 years. My first year I was told I needed to > complete running records on each student. That was it. No kit (didn't > even know there was such a thing at the time) and no benchmarks or goals > as to what fourth grade students should be reading at. I went into the > Literacy Lab and made my own kit, pulling books from the leveled reader > library. I did running records on each student 3 times that year with no > clear purpose or goal. My second year, a Literacy Facilitator was hired. > When I asked her about it, she told me my kit was fine and gave me a guide > as to what levels were expected at each grade level. I was told that > fourth grade needed to be reading at a level 40 by the end of fourth > grade. That said, our leveled readers only went up to Level 40. So I've > never been exactly clear as to what was expected of fifth grade. > > A few years ago, we got a new Literacy Facilitator. She made new levels. > Third grade students should be reading at a Level 32 by the end of the > year, fourth grade a Level 36, and fifth grade a Level 40. Once again, I > thought this was terribly convenient, since our leveled reader library > only went to Level 40. Also, she told us to formally assess the students > every month. > > Suddenly, halfway through this school year, our principal decided everyone > should have a kit for doing running records. He polled each teacher. K-1 > had one kit (not sure of which one), 2-3 had Rigby, I (fourth grade) had > my own make-shift kit, and fifth grade had a DRA kit. One was ordered for > me. It was Rigby. It only goes up to Level 30 so this year I could have > used it on a total of 2 students. > > I became very confused and began researching. Everything I have seen, > says that students should be reading at a Level 38 by the end of third > grade. > > I guess my questions are: Is it normal for schools to be so haphazard > with what assessment they are using? What (if they exist) are standard > expected levels for each grade? I am unfamiliar with DRA but the DRA kit > that fifth grade uses has Level 24, 28, 34, 38, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80. > What about the in-between levels? Our North Carolina End-Of-Grade tests > are lexiled. Shouldn't the levels we expect our kids to be reading at > match the state tests? > > I know all of this is very elementary and I should have probably figured > this out before now. However, I am very confused about all of this (as > you may be able to tell in my ramblings) and have asked all of this to our > Literacy Facilitator who keeps telling me to just keep doing what I've > been doing. Please help me understand this! If you have any great books, > websites, or other resources, I don't mind learning on my own. I just > need some guidance because I just can't seem to wrap my mind around this! > > Angela Hatley Almond, NBCT > Fourth Grade > East Albemarle Elementary School > > > > > > > All email correspondence to and from this address is subject to North > Carolina Public Records Law which may result in monitoring and disclosure > to third parties, including law enforcement. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
