Secondary school - reading age.

[Iloveitall]

My year 7 has come home with a slip about their star reading report. It seems a load of gibberish to me but it says reading age is 10.05. I’m assuming that means 10 years and 5 months? Seems so low. Guess we will be upping the reading in our house this summer.

The zone of proximal development isn't an accelerated reader thing. It's to do with appropriate challenge.
Please don't force him to sit and read. Encourage him. Show him that reading can be enjoyable and interesting. Make reading part of what you do. Make reading materials available. Forced reading will put him off.

I really loved Accelerated Reader- the kids get so so much out of it. Unfortunately our HT decided that it was too expensive in the end .

Great suggestion by PP to search their Book Finder when visiting the library/ bookshop and get him to choose from 4.9 upwards.

Please don't worry- his reading age isn't too bad (The average tabloid paper is around 8 years!). I'm also quite surprised the school shared the RA with the pupils. We would never have done that - just too many pupils who would be affected by a low score. Don't focus on the RA, just enjoying reading and talking about it.

@Iloveitall

Oh wow. Year 3 age books? Gosh. So books suitable for a year 5 would be challenging for him?

Right, 20-30 mins a day of reading I think. I just hope he doesn’t start to resent / hate it.

The lower end of his zpd would be books that would be suitable for year 3 but the top end is books that would be suitable for year 5 which isn't hugely below where he should be, especially after the disruption of the last couple of years.

I’m an English teacher and we use AR.

Zone of Proximal Development is a theory of Vygotsky’s - basically it’s the level at which you can learn most readily, without either frustration or boredom but whilst still being challenged. AR have used this idea in their programme. Each book is given a level, and pupils are given a recommended range of levels which should be appropriate but challenging for them. The pupils shouldn’t be able to work out their reading age from the ZPD as that could be really demotivating for them, but the ZPD will be updated as they improve.

When a pupil finishes a book they’ll do a quiz on it and be given points etc. AR will also calculate how many words they’ve read and the average amount of time they spend reading based on these quizzes. It’s a good way of motivating pupils as well as keeping them accountable.

Your child will be completing 4-6 Star reading tests this year so don’t panic yet. Help him choose books (AR will give him suggestions within his ZPD when he logs in and the AR Bookfinder search engine will help to conduct more advanced searches), discuss them with him, and aim to have him reading for about 30 mins per day if he’s not already doing that in school.

If I were you I’d ask the school if they were going to provide me with updates on his Star tests through the year - then you can see if he’s making progress.

Bear in mind that reading comprehension consists of 3 things - decoding, vocabulary and background knowledge about the world. At his age the first is probably less of an issue, so work on developing his vocabulary in day-to-day conversation and help him to improve his general knowledge.

PS PP is correct that sometimes kids perform poorly and it's not as accurate as a proper diagnostic test like YARC, but these take around 60-90 minutes for each child, so it's unrealistic to test everyone. If you're still concerned perhaps request a full reading assessment.

@Iloveitall

Oh wow. Year 3 age books? Gosh. So books suitable for a year 5 would be challenging for him?

Right, 20-30 mins a day of reading I think. I just hope he doesn’t start to resent / hate it.

No OP - 3.6 - 5.6 has nothing to do with school year, don't know why that poster said that, it isn't accurate. It is a scale exclusive to the accelerated reader programme and refers to the level of the book.

Zpd is "zone of proximal development" (I think). I haven't heard it used outside Accelerated Reader so I think it's a bit of jargon that they made up.

Definitely not made up jargon.
Research ZPD, Vygotsky is fascinating

@FartnissEverbeans

I’m an English teacher and we use AR.

Zone of Proximal Development is a theory of Vygotsky’s - basically it’s the level at which you can learn most readily, without either frustration or boredom but whilst still being challenged. AR have used this idea in their programme. Each book is given a level, and pupils are given a recommended range of levels which should be appropriate but challenging for them. The pupils shouldn’t be able to work out their reading age from the ZPD as that could be really demotivating for them, but the ZPD will be updated as they improve.

When a pupil finishes a book they’ll do a quiz on it and be given points etc. AR will also calculate how many words they’ve read and the average amount of time they spend reading based on these quizzes. It’s a good way of motivating pupils as well as keeping them accountable.

Your child will be completing 4-6 Star reading tests this year so don’t panic yet. Help him choose books (AR will give him suggestions within his ZPD when he logs in and the AR Bookfinder search engine will help to conduct more advanced searches), discuss them with him, and aim to have him reading for about 30 mins per day if he’s not already doing that in school.

If I were you I’d ask the school if they were going to provide me with updates on his Star tests through the year - then you can see if he’s making progress.

Bear in mind that reading comprehension consists of 3 things - decoding, vocabulary and background knowledge about the world. At his age the first is probably less of an issue, so work on developing his vocabulary in day-to-day conversation and help him to improve his general knowledge.

Brilliant summary and advice. English teacher here too. I cannot emphasise how important general knowledge is.

I teach year 7s and in one class I have four that have a reading age of 5/6, a few with 7/8, most are 10-13 and a couple 14/15. So I wouldn’t worry too much about yours. If they find a nice book to read over the summer that would really help though as I feel lockdown had quite a big impact on reading and writing.
Remember no one is going to be dead on the mark their entire lives you will find they often fall behind a bit and then catch up really fast or they’re ahead for quite a while and then just drop suddenly but as long as they’re improving overall then there’s no worries.

Try and let him choose his own book even if it is a joke book, world records or comic book as reading is reading.

Get him to read a couple of articles in a newspaper regularly too. Look up the words he doesn’t understand.
I found an electronic dictionary was really useful as they could look up a word quickly when they were reading books. They’re not cheap but worth it. My dc has ones that were bookmarks.
Documentaries with subtitles are good for increasing general knowledge, vocabulary and exposes them to more formal language.

They use AR in the primary I volunteer in and it is superb. There was a literacy deficit especially around vocabulary and this has improved immensely. For the first time children were actually asked questions about the book they were reading. As a volunteer I listen to children read but I also have to ask them questions such as how do you think Charlie feels at this moment? Why does he feel sad? What other words can you use for sad? This is much better than just sat reading a book or pretending to read a book. They have AR every day.

Many children are reading books in higher reading bands at home which we encourage for variety. Just because at school they are on 3.6 doesn't mean they can't read David Walliams which is 5 something I believe.

Might I also suggest YouTube "Edutainment" videos, so learning about stuff but in a fun and interesting way from creators such as Tom Scott, CGP Grey, Veritasium, Kurzgesagt , SmarterEveryDay,

Some are science based but you should be able to find some things that he wants to watch. Might I suggest CGP Grey explaining the place we live and why we are called Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

The best wide eyed open mouthed reaction to learning something was when a group of year 4 children found out there was a tunnel under the channel that took people to France. They imagined a clear tube like a water slide sat on the bottom of the ocean, they could not get their heads round a tunnel in the earth under the sea. I love volunteering!

If you can find books that he really likes it will help a lot I bought my DS a stack of DK science topic encyclopedias at the beginning of the first lockdown and he's been engrossed in them every since. He gets really annoyed if he doesn't get at least two reading hours a day. Maybe you could ask what your DS is really into and try to find something really great for him. Good luck there

My children’s school don’t use this program but I do know my child tested a year behind in September and 2 years ahead by the February. Yes we did more work at home but I know there was not 3 years difference in his reading over those 4 months so he obviously tested badly the first time (or fluked it the second time).

Does your son know how many times he has done this test? If only once I would take it with a pinch of salt, if several times over the year it may carry more weight.

Hi OP, I use AR at work. It was originally an American system so the ZPD level refers to the American grade system - so a ZPD of 3.6-5.6 equates roughly to a student between grades 3 and 5 (age 9-12), not Year 3 in the UK system. Try not to worry, your DC will catch up quickly now you know what you’re working with

Thanks all. Lots to look at and think about. I think he’s done the test twice now. He likes David Williams and really likes David baddiel at the moment. He also has some Percy Jackson to read too - it’s just that he never really wants to read when there’s other stuff to do. He likes it when he does though.

https://yourcub.com/reading-age-and-zpd-for-uk-kids/

This article might explain it better than I could.

There is some fantastic advice on this thread, so I'm sure you're going to be able to support him. Two things though.
Firstly, many children have reading ages below what you'd expect, and I see a great number of them every year go on to be successful and do well at school- helping him improve and widening his reading choices will help him access the curriculum better and maximise his opportunities in school.

Secondly- you mention how much he loves David Williams, David Baddiel, and Percy Jackson series. My children love these too...but (crucially) these are aimed at upper KS2 readers, and the language used isn't going to stretch a Y7 child. They're comfort reading, which has obviously been really important over the last 15 months to children who are readers, but he needs to broaden his taste now.

If he likes Percy Jackson, he could tackle Magnus Chase series next. Series such as How To Train Your Dragon and A Series of Unfortunate Events are aimed at KS2 but have a more developed vocabulary in them, along with complicated plot lines that are more sophisticated than what he's been reading.

I agree with posters saying non-fiction too- he will have exposure to a wider vocabulary that way.

Also OP don’t forget audiobooks, brilliant for long journeys (particularly if you have a kid that gets carsick) and if you listen to them as a family then you can get a few comprehension questions in quite naturally without it being work. They main thing is that your son enjoys it and reads a variety of things, as PP say, magazines (Nat Geo kids or The Week Junior both excellent), comics, fact books (Guinness book of records huge hit here) as well as chapter books they like. Maybe consider joining the summer reading challenge in your local library or online if they do one.

AR can sometimes be demotivating if students see reading as a means to a quiz score and a chore.

I did some Masters research on encouraging reading for pleasure. The answer isn’t “make them do quizzes”, funnily enough. It’s about creating a positive, nurturing reading environment. Modelling reading yourself (as a teacher or parent) is key. Talk about books. Make them part of your routine. Read with them, and share why you read.

Kids cop on to teachers and parents making reading “school work” when they don’t do it themselves.

The indicators of success for reading are reading for pleasure, and that’s something you can’t just enforce.

@PhilODox

There is some fantastic advice on this thread, so I'm sure you're going to be able to support him. Two things though. Firstly, many children have reading ages below what you'd expect, and I see a great number of them every year go on to be successful and do well at school- helping him improve and widening his reading choices will help him access the curriculum better and maximise his opportunities in school.

Secondly- you mention how much he loves David Williams, David Baddiel, and Percy Jackson series. My children love these too...but (crucially) these are aimed at upper KS2 readers, and the language used isn't going to stretch a Y7 child. They're comfort reading, which has obviously been really important over the last 15 months to children who are readers, but he needs to broaden his taste now.

If he likes Percy Jackson, he could tackle Magnus Chase series next. Series such as How To Train Your Dragon and A Series of Unfortunate Events are aimed at KS2 but have a more developed vocabulary in them, along with complicated plot lines that are more sophisticated than what he's been reading.

I agree with posters saying non-fiction too- he will have exposure to a wider vocabulary that way.

Thank you. I was going to ask about his book choices. He hasn’t read the Percy Jackson ones yet but he liked the sound of them so they are ready for him. I will get one of your recommendations for him too. Thanks for the advice. Thanks to everyone else that’s commented too. It’s really helpful.

Mrs Wordsmith is useful for boosting vocab, also reading actual books rather than reading on a kindle helps. Plus have access to a wide variety of books at home. What genre is DC into? work from there.

So much good advice on reading for pleasure. My mother who taught 13 and 14 year olds for 50 years, reckons a key skill often over looked in assisting comprehension is being able to summarise a story, newspaper article, whatever

You need to find something that he would enjoy reading- could be a comic or magazine - so long as he ends up enjoying it and doesn’t see it like a chore. Find a good comic store or book store and just go down with him and let him select what he wants. I think if you go down this route he will take ownership hopefully. If you simply say right reading time for 20-30 minutes a day you don’t really know if he is reading unless you sit next to him and get him to read aloud.

My 12 year old has just been assessed at having a reading age of 8 years 11 months. I knew his reading was a bit behind but I was shocked at that and the teacher did say it was possible he’d rushed through the test on that day and made silly mistakes. When I tested him (purely reading words, not comprehension) at the start of the first lockdown he was 9.6 then when I tested when he went back to school he was 11.6 - I worked my kids hard! 😆 So I’m not sure what’s happened.