Primary reading age vs book level - explanation

[Seadreamers]

Can someone please explain an assessed reading age vs Oxford book levels, and a discrepancy in them?

DS(8) / y4 was last assessed at the end of y3 as having a reading age of 8.4 years (was being assessed regularly due to being very behind in reading/phonics - was 6.1 yrs start y3).

He is now on Oxford Level 8 / Brown. On the Oxford chart this correlates to age 7-8 years and the start of y3. So, how is his assessed reading age 8.4 yrs (probably slightly higher now) when he’s not matching the book levels for his age/year?

His y3 teacher did explain but I’ve forgotten but all I do know if that he is still very behind in reading and should be level 14+ if he’s to match his year group on the chart.

(ps he is being monitored for dyslexia but it’s looking unlikely for various reasons).

There's this I've got saved, if it helps. But I am not sure if the Oxford school and home schemes might vary slightly.

Interested in what you mean by being monitored for dyslexia? School should have access to a free screening assessment that will give you an answer whether dyslexia is likely or not. I don't think there is any need for monitoring.

Does anyone know why the numbers on the Oxford one above repeat?! Levels 8-12 repeat! Is an 8 on ORT equivalent to purple or brown?

(also I didn’t think schools were ‘allowed’ to use books banded like this any more, at least in reception and y1 as they have to show ‘fidelity to the scheme’ and only send home phonetically decodable books matching what had been taught in school lessons?)

Who is choosing what level reading books he should be given at school? Is he being properly assessed regularly or could it be that the school are overstretched and the TA that changes the books hasn’t checked if any children need to go up a level for a while?

How do you think he gets on reading the level 8 books? Are they still a challenge or does he get through them easily?

@modgepodge No idea why it goes back to 8! I always thought it was random. A bit like kids shoes, they get to a 13 then go to a 1?! But at least that's a 1, not an 8! Like you say, I don't think schools use these level systems now. I just had the screenshot to help in picking books at the library.

At my kids school they do reading stars phonics then move on to accelerated reader scheme, which gives a reading age then a code level that the children can pick books between.

@Curlewwoohoo yes I have that sheet too. There is an explanation for why a child’s reading age does not match their reading phonics book level but I don’t recall it.

@FloweryName
A few weeks ago his teacher said he was on the cusp of moving up, and I’ll give it a week and then contact her as he flies through the books, but maybe finds 2-3 words tricky (or part laziness).

Our school does not test for dyslexia, but we have however done a basic test through a website that DH has access to which says low possibility.

Reading age is typically a word reading test so it will tell you how well a child can decode. Reading age doesn't look at comprehension. It is probably that the school want to ensure your child understands the books he's reading before they move him on the book bands.

School don't do a full dyslexia test no, they cost hundreds, but they should be able to do a screening test, most likely using a programme such as nessy yeti mountain.

Reading age tests are not a precise science as they are based on just a few sentences. Also, they often only test word reading and not comprehension.

However, if he's getting most words right and shows a decent understanding, ask the teacher if he can go up to grey.

I expect the repeated levels correspond to more grown up subject matter, so books at the same reading level, but with content more suited to KS2 readers than KS1 readers. They could also feature longer blocks of text, and/or more complex layouts to suit older readers, so continue to develop other reading skills while consolidating the decoding skills of levels 8-11.

The book bands frustrate me a bit, though it might have a school/teacher element too. My dd has always been behind where the bands say she should be but the teachers explanation is that they believe they should be able to fluently read the book and know all words to move up and to ignore the age recommendation. So they could actually be able to mostly read a higher level book than they are on, I’m not sure if all schools do it this way or not!