Dyslexics, moving up, & standardized testing

[Shari]

I've got that old worn out feeling .... :(

We have been testing this week and, again, I am reminded of just how far academically my LD ds is 'behind' is peers. It is easy to forget when we are in the trenches day after day, and I see bits of improvement here and there. I think "Oh, great! That's looking better!" But when I see (on the IOWAs) what other kids his age are expected to know .... well ..... we just aren't on the same field.

Do you continue to progress your LD children to the next grade level regardless of their ability? I strongly suspect that my ds would fail his current grade if he were in p.s.. He has only made about half a year of academic progress, even though we've been at it since last JUNE. The only thing we use his grade-level for is activities at church, but if I continue to progress him the gap between where he should be and where he is will only get larger and larger.

I don't really even know how to express what I'm feeling except to say that I feel very defeated right now. Despite all the time and effort, the results just don't seem to be showing.

[Laurie4b]

How old is the ds in question?

An individually administered test like the Woodcock Johnson will not penalize your ds on other subjects because of his reading issues.

Has your ds had a complete evaluation including an IQ test? How long ago was that?

I think it's great to get the feedback so that you can evaluate the approach you're taking. I would suggest evaluation every 6 months until he's on grade level (or above--depending on his IQ and your sense of his potential). The more frequent evals give you a chance to change course more quickly.

How are you approaching things? What methods are you using? Remediation should be taking him on a course where he is making up more than a year at a time, or he won't catch up. So if he's made less than a year's progress, it's really important that you figure out why. Good dyslexia approaches should recoup more than a year at a time even if the child doesn't make it to grade level the first year--but many do. If you share what you're doing, I'm sure folks would be glad to help you figure it out. Or you could get a tutor to jumpstart things.

Lastly, no, I would not hold him back a grade. I tutor lots of students with reading difficulties--some with dyslexia and others who just haven't had good instruction. I always argue against retention. I argue instead for appropriate services the next year to help them catch up to where they need to be. Retention has negative outcomes. (You can find the research by googling it.) Advancing them without offering something more also has negative outcomes. What has positive outcomes is to advance the child but offer appropriate services.

So, in general, I'd encourage you to channel your discouragement into developing a new plan of action.

[KarenAnne]

I'm so sorry you're feeling so tired and defeated. This is a periodically recurring thing for me that becomes more acute when, like you, I am in a position to see where my child is in relation to other kids her age -- and it looks like she's from a different solar system entirely.

Is there a reason you have to formally declare your child to be a certain grade level and use curriculum marketed that grade, or a particular, pressing reason why you think he should need to be at a certain level at a certain time? One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to work outside that particular box: work at your child's level, whatever that may be. It may be different in different subject areas and it may be different WITHIN a subject area -- reading comprehension might be far higher than writing skills, for instance. As a homeschooler you can go with that. Declare a grade level if needed for a transcript, but continue to do what works, however slowly. Don't pay attention to what it is labeled for a neurotypical child.

Unless you are homeschooling under the jurisdiction of a public school system, in which case an IEP should probably be in place which would affect your son's relationship to age-grade standards, there's no need to worry about where he is in relation to other kids. It's hard not to, I know, and we're all probably subject to being haunted by this specter occasionally. I think it's particularly harder at this time of year -- it's the "by the end of ____th grade your child should be able to..... " kind of thing, and the controlling idea of how grade progression is supposed to happen on a predictable timetable. Take advantage of your ability to set that aside.

I don't know your situation, but if your own discouragement persists, give YOURSELF a break: maybe you can get an updated evaluation with some current recommendations for programs or interventions, look for more outside therapies via your pediatrician or psychologist or school district, find a specialist educational tutor who works with dyslexics.

Also, I'd encourage a bit of healthy skepticism regarding the test itself. Your son's issues are going to impact his scores, which may show up as lower than his performance might be in different circumstances. You may be focusing on or emphasizing different things than the standard curriculum, which again is going to show up as a "lowered" score. And also, there are a a lot of studies which show that standardized tests are not the best measure of anything but test-taking ability and income level. Don't let too much of your emotional well-being ride on that score -- or on the page number you've reached in a textbook or the place in a curriculum.

[Renee in FL]

I have done both. I retained my 9yo when he was supposed to be moving to the 2nd grade (called him a 1st grader for a second year.) He didn't realize this at all, so it wasn't a big deal. I won't retain him again, mostly due to his size. He is at the 97th+ percentile for his age anyway, so if I held him back again it would be very obvious to anyone.

As for not making progress, my ds hasn't ever made a year's progress in a school year. It just takes him longer to learn things. I am not afraid that he will never "catch up" because I have no expectations for his adult life. I just work towards the eventual goal of his being able to read, write, and do math functionally. Anything over that is just gravy!

Content-wise we just keep going. Same for skill wise. Once he masters 1st grade skills ala TWTM, then we will move to 2nd grade skills and so on. I don't have any hope that he will ever be "remediated", but he could surprise me.;)

[merry gardens]

I've got that old worn out feeling .... :(

We have been testing this week and, again, I am reminded of just how far academically my LD ds is 'behind' is peers. It is easy to forget when we are in the trenches day after day, and I see bits of improvement here and there. I think "Oh, great! That's looking better!" But when I see (on the IOWAs) what other kids his age are expected to know .... well ..... we just aren't on the same field.

Do you continue to progress your LD children to the next grade level regardless of their ability? I strongly suspect that my ds would fail his current grade if he were in p.s.. He has only made about half a year of academic progress, even though we've been at it since last JUNE. The only thing we use his grade-level for is activities at church, but if I continue to progress him the gap between where he should be and where he is will only get larger and larger.

I don't really even know how to express what I'm feeling except to say that I feel very defeated right now. Despite all the time and effort, the results just don't seem to be showing.
Oh, oh, oh :grouphug:!!!

You are in the middle of testing. You haven't seen the results yet. My state requires testing so we test every year. Every year I'm afraid of what the scores will look like. Remember that the tests distinguish the top 1% from the top 10% from the top 20% so they test things that they don't expect the average child to know. The scores might not turn out as bad a you fear right now.

That said, on standardized testing, I test my son with dyslexia one year behind the grade he *thinks* he's in. It's hard to put an exact grade level on homeschooling a child with a learning disability. My son has kept up on grade level with math, but not with reading, and because reading is so very critical, not with some other things. (That puts him in a weird situation for the standardized tests on math because he isn't tested in what he knows in math but for what he learned the previous year.) I haven't told him that I've "held him back" and I try to select materials that are appropriate for a variety of ages or grade range rather than having a great big grade number on it that he thinks he's beyond. He knows he struggles with reading and we both know he's making progress. The standardized tests are useful to watch how he progresses compared to other children, and I think it is more helpful to test him at a level that's closer to his abilities.

[Shari]

Thank you for the replies, ladies. It is about time for a break so that Mom can recharge her batteries ;)

He does have IEP suggestions we got as part of our ed psych evaluation. I need to pull it out and look at them again. Also, I never thought about using a lower level test than his 'grade level.' That's a good idea for next year maybe.