Ask an Expert: Jim Cox and Pat Puleo
Measuring Up: A Parent's Guide to Testing, Grades, and Assessments

My daughter's fifth-grade teacher told me she wasn't reading at grade level, and was in fact one and a half grade levels behind. What exactly does this mean?

The phrase "reading at grade level" unfortunately has two meanings.You must know which definition the school is using. The most appropriate definition refers to how the student is functioning academically in the classroom. Your daughter is in the fifth grade. Is she capable of reading and comprehending fifth grade material or is she really only able to perform these functions using third grade material? What evidence does the school provide in order to make this statement?

The second definition of "reading at grade level" refers to how your daughter scored on the SAT-9 or some other test. On the SAT-9, for example, reading at grade level means that your daughter scored as well as 50% of the students who took the test in the nation. We call this the 50th percentile. Since the 50th percentile divides the nation's test takers in half, by definition, 50 percent of the fifth graders are "reading below grade level."

Working at grade level in the classroom and scoring at grade level on a test are, therefore, two different things. A student could be in the bottom half of the students scoring on the SAT9, but still be functioning very satisfactorily in the classroom.

A variety of measures should be used to determine "grade level" performance. Grade level competence should be diagnosed by looking at lots of diagnostic evidence. A good informal reading inventory is a helpful tool to establish reading levels. They give teachers very specific information about your child's strengths and weaknesses in reading. If the school used test scores rather than classroom work, ask for additional evidence to support their contention. A test score like SAT-9 is insufficient to justify the conclusion that your daughter is below grade level.

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