Can a bright kid's levels go backwards?

retroguy

ajfslhgmvjfj

TBagpuss

if he has changed schools then the two schools may be interpreting the guidance slightly differently.

Also, children develop at different rates - is it possible that he was a the top of his age group last year but that his progress has levelled out a little and other children of his age have 'caught up' so he is not so much above average?

What are you hoping to achieve? If you are writing to the school about concerns about the teacher I would suggest that you focus on the specifics - that you felt the teacher held him back, that communication was poor etc.
If your son didn't like the teacher he may well have performed less well in class then he would with someone he liked, or with a stranger.

Rambosmum

Yes. Bright kids levels are much more likely to fluctuate than 'average' kids.

For several reasons.

1. Kids abilities fluctuate depending on what's going on with friends, at home, how much effort they are putting in, if they feel under the weather etc.

2. Teachers now have performance related pay and 90% of kids in the class must make 2 sublevels progress from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, or you don't get your pay rise. So, at the beginning of the year teacher inherit levels assessed by the previous teacher - who, with some children, may have exaggerated their level, in order to get paid. Therefore during a mid year review by new teacher their level may appear to drop. Some teachers are more honest than others!

Also assessments are different in different schools, though levels are supposed to be national they are subjective and your kid may have been having an off day when the assessment was done - specific pieces of work are assessed, it isn't an average.

retroguy

dshghsaiyut

honeypop

I know in our local schools the levels shifted this year (and I think it was national too?), so you basically had to achieve a lot more to get the same level score - as a very very basic idea.

Could this be what happened? His level has been adjusted to suit the new criteria this year?

retroguy

khdagkhasdkhg

Soleil_lune

Is anyone else a bit confused with retroguy's posts? :huh:

charlie-chan

Soleil_lune wrote: »

Is anyone else a bit confused with retroguy's posts? :huh:

I think they might be back tracking?

Rambosmum

charlie-chan wrote: »

I think they might be back tracking?

Really irritates me when people do this, especially when people have taken time to write considered replies.

Pollycat

Rambosmum wrote: »

Really irritates me when people do this, especially when people have taken time to write considered replies.

I could understand it if the replies were nasty but I can't see how anyone would take the replies like that.

susancs

OP I don't know if your post refered to primary or secondary school, but grades can drop on a topic by topic basis at secondary school for example they might be very good at geometry but less good at algebra. My DD for example was always better at physical geography than human geography, so her grades when it was a human geography topic dipped. Also if it is the first year at secondary school Year 7, the skill set required for some subjects will be different than those required for primary school SATs.