[iwanttosleepin]

Okay - I am trying to work out which reading leveling system people are referring to in 'benchmarks' for the Australian Curriculum.

People seem to refer to level 5 for prep/kindergarten and level 10 for year 1 - but what leveling system is being used?

My son is not in an Australian school and so I need to be able to track him to ensure integration back into the Australian curriculum in the future. The level he is on doesn't seem to fit in the Australian system. Ie. I 'think' he is on DRA Level 44 (Oxford Reading Tree system Treetops All Stars or level 12+ depending on which books he brings home).

Please someone help me out!!!

[howdo]

It's usually PM Benchmarks.

http://www.nelsonprimary.com.au/cproot/250...20Benchmark.pdf

[melmamma]

Yes, it's the PM levels at our school as well (NSW).
They range for 1-30 and I was told that (roughly) the schools aim for Level 10 at the end of Kinder (1st year of school, NSW), Level 20 at the end of year 1 and Level 30 at the end of year 2.
But it varies from school to school (and obviously from child to child).

[~shannon~]

I'm in Qld... the national benchmark for year 1 is level 10, but the school aims for level 20. My DDs year 1 class have all reached this (and quite a few have surpassed this level), as I'm sure many others across the country have too.

[proudmama1]

At our school (Vic) it is: prep - level 5, grade 1 - level 15, grade 2 - level 20, grade 3 - level 30.

[iwanttosleepin]

I think I can convert this PM Benchmark system to DRA but it doesn't totally make sense....(well is someone hard to believe).

My DS went from PM benchmark 7 (He was on yellow books at the end of Preprimary in Australia and sat near the top of his WA class). He then skipped straight into the middle of Year 1 in a British Curriculum school ( missed the first 14 weeks) and it would appear that less than 12 months later, so 14 weeks into year 2 he is now on.....

DRA Level 44 which appears to equate to PM Benchmark 30. Which I find totally unbelievable given he's not even the top of class here! He's in the top 25% but there are at least 3 kids that I know of who are a a whole level higher.

I find it hard to believe that UK children who are actually significantly younger than the equivalent year group in Australia are that much ahead of the Australian curriculum. IE. Year 1 children can start if they are 5 years and 1 day old. Which is the 3rd year of schooling.

[howdo]

It is my experience that despite the conversion tables having you believe a child at x on one reading scale is at y on another, they rarely correlate closely at all.

Having said that, a child on level 30 in Year 1 is entirely within normal.

[iwanttosleepin]

I know that a child in year 1 on level 30 is well within normal....but that the average in the class would be on level 30!

[Tisf]

My daughter has just finished year one as is reading well above level 30, as is most of her class. I wouldn't worry too much about integrating back here - when he starts here his teacher will do a reading assessment which will work out the appropriate level for him.

[BlondieUK]

Just keep in mind that reading level does not always correspond with the 'literacy' level. What I mean is that children will often read ahead of comprehension/written work. Some teachers will try and hold reading back to level it all out, but other teachers take the approach that if the child wants to read, let them read (which I personally agree with).

So, perhaps talk to the teacher: it may be that the child is reading level 30, but the kind of comprehension/writing/spelling work is more closely aligned with a lower level.