Talk to me about reading ages.

[seeker]

We went to ds's parents evening last night. His report says that he is "reading at a very high level". I know he is - he's always been a reader so it's no surprise. I asked, out of curiosity more than anything, what his reading age was, and his teacher said that they only test reading age if it's necessary to support a Statement or something like that because it doesn't test the important bit - that is the comprehension - it only tests decoding. I didn't realize this. If it's true, what is the point of testing reading ages?

[wannaBe]

because if a child is reading at a high level and can read the words but can't tell you what the book is about, then the reading age is irelevant, iyswim?

[suwoo]

They used to state your reading age on your report in Junior school didn't they. I've still got my reports with my reading age on them.

[cazzybabs]

We do test reading ages more to keep track of progress...but your teacher is right - it doesn't test comprehension, especially in the more simple tests. Each school does do things differently.

[singersgirl]

Some reading tests purport to test comprehension. Sometimes these are 'cloze' tests where the child has to fill in the right missing word in a sentence, for example. Some are simply comprehension questions - for example, the KS1 reading assessment, for which they get a level, is a test of comprehension.

Other tests are just decoding tests eg reading a list of words or a list of sentences.

I don't think there is really much point. It also means on a board like this you can't compare reading age unless everyone knows exactly which reading test their child was given. (Not that you should compare, but Mumsnet can be a very worrying place if you are negotiating school for the first time.)

[seeker]

I'm just amazed that any school thinks testing "decoding" ability alone is any use to anyone. I know a lot of schools do - seems a complete waste of time - and actually very misleading to parents as well!

[FluffyMummy123]

Message withdrawn