is it possible to go backwards

[jrrtolkien]

DD has always done we'll at school until this year. He's in year 6 and the teacher is saying that he's only a 4B. How can this be he was a 5C at the end of last year and a 4b at the end of year 4.

The teacher said he was a 4b in October and he's still a 4b now.

I've made an appointment to see the.teacher about it, but is it possible? And shouldn't it be raising red flags for the teacher?

He might only be producing work at a 4B level even though he's capable of much more. Or the year 5 teacher did bugger all for a year...

But if he is only,producing 4b work and that had not changed in half a year, then shouldn't the teacher be doing something about it?
I mean if he really only was 4b in September then shouldn't they be worrying that he's still 4 b half a year later?

Sorry - pitfalls of using phone to type. What I am trying to say is should he not at least be targeting 2 sub levels of improvement for this year rather than standing still?
And what about raising issue with,parents? I only,know because DD told me what was serotonin a recent practice sat test.

heard it through the grapevine-please don't shoot the messenger anybody- it is not unheard off for a childs previous teacher to mark up the childs work to make ones self look good, and the next teacher to mark a childs work lower to show more progress during their year. Although I would like to think that this would look rather strange on the childs file, and also that teachers are a lot more trustworthy than that...but then again I have been unfortunate enough to come across a teacher who isn't trustworthy. let us know how your meeting goes on.

I definitely won't shoot the,messenger. Originally I,thought something like that but now I had expected the level would have started to rise by now, so I am beginning to wonder exactly what is going on.
Then there is another problem...DD knows his grades need to improve because teacher has,made it abundantly clear that she's not happy with his work. However she apparently giving him no hint as to what he is doing wrong or what the right answer looks like. So he is v stressed. This is actually the,main reason I am going to see teacher

Definitely check. Recently had contact with ds maths teacher also yr 6. She wrote on his report that he'd gone down from a 4b to a 4c, which was a slight concern but she felt was because of the type of maths they were testing at the time. I asked to see her as he finished yr 4 on a 3a, so should have been a secure 4b by the end of year 5 and moving towards at least a 5c. All credit to her, she felt ds hadn't grasped fractions and decimals properly so she did a couple of tutor sessions to get him up to speed. It can vary downwards depending on what part of maths they are testing, my ds for example falls apart for mental maths tests so would show a lower level at that sort of thing rather than a test giving longer time. Hope that helps

Thanks. In DD case it's reading i.e. reading comprehension where he is regressing. Does it subdivide into different sub topics too? If yes then,that may be,the explanation.

Sorry auto correct keeps putting DD when,I am def writing DS!

Levels also can vary in English according to the genre of writing. As the levels are based on specific skills covered there is plenty of room for variation. Levels only generally tend to be assessed in depth on one or two pieces of work / particular tests so are a snapshot of what the child achieves at that time in that task. They are obviously a reasonable guide to achievement, but certainly not the 'be all and end all' ( thus the pointlessness of SATS and why my children's school stopped doing them years ago, replacing with regular levelling assessment tasks related to topics studied and standardised testing of INCAS, CATS and PIPS).

How are the levels being generated, e.g. Teacher assessment on one aspect of Maths/English, or a SATs test under exam conditions - two very different situations!

That's a good point. I hadn't thought of it before.
The answer is that all the,results come from sitting SATS papers.
The school have DS a SATS reading test paper last Summer and he got 5c. The work he was producing in class at that time was a similar standard and DS appeared to find English easy.
Then this year he's had 2 test papers and he only got 4B each time. Since Christmas, DS has been very stressed about reading comp. he says he keeps getting it wrong but doesn't know what he's doing wrong or what a model answer looks,like.

The teacher is very unapproachable and DS is scared of her. He feels that she doesn't like him and he's reluctant to do anything that will get her attention.