You should have received your little one’s latest NWEA test scores, showing how they are growing academically. The NWEA test is a special computer-adaptive test—MAP Growth—that we use here at Diven (and beyond) to measure your child’s skills. Adaptive means that the test will adapt to your child: if your child answers a question correctly, the next question is harder. If your child answers a question incorrectly, the next one is easier. The cool thing about this test is that it measures what your child knows, not a grade level. The test is not a pass/fail, just a way to track growth. You’ll receive a RIT score that will show if your child is performing on, above, or below grade level. This helps you and your child’s teachers decide where best to focus your child’s education. You’ll receive your child’s RIT scores at Parent-Teacher conferences or with your report card, and we’ll do the test a few times a year so we can make sure that your child is growing academically.
At the bottom of your NWEA test report, you’ll also find a Lexile Score. The higher the Lexile, the higher your child’s reading level. The Lexile score chart starts at BR (beginning reader), moves to 5L (reading independently) and goes all the way up to 2000L. When we do book giveaways here at school, we use Fountas & Pinnell Levels (A – Z). Look for the Reading Level Conversion Chart in your Wednesday folder with this week’s newsletter and use it as a guide when selecting books for your child.
You want to keep challenging your readers, but not frustrating them—choose books that are at or slightly above the reading level, and remember that books below reading level are excellent, too—they are usually the stories your child wants to read again and again, and they help build vocabulary and grammar.
Head over to YourReadingPath.com and enter your child’s age and RIT score for some great book recommendations!