Oral Fluency and Speech

I finally located the online oral fluency assessment I used previously with the kids, and it was extremely close to the school's assessment results. Since Little G is technically in Kindergarten, he does not do an oral fluency assessment through K12 yet. At the beginning of the year, he was reading about 40 words per minute, hampered somewhat by his speech disorder. His comprehension was perfect, though. He is now reading at 62 words per minute, also with perfect comprehension. This is a late 1st grade to early 2nd grade reading level, and if his speech disorder wasn't holding him back I believe he would have done even better.

Because his speech is not "bad enough" to hold him back beyond his actual grade level, he does not qualify for services any longer. People assess him and tell me that he's actually doing more than most children his age. But I believe in helping him achieve his true, fullest potential, not just "passable" on some one-size-fits-all assessment. So, I am working at finding as much information as I can to help him compensate for his disorder and bring his speech capabilities more in line with his intellectual ability. I take a video of him every 8 weeks to determine what is progressing and what isn't, and what we need to focus on most. His progress from last year at this time until now is nothing short of amazing! Words are extremely important to my son, and he has an incredible desire to communicate. I believe that is his greatest asset in terms of stomping his challenges.

Aimsweb is the benchmark assessment used to evaluate K12 students. I think in general it is probably a decent evaluation tool. However, in evaluating children with special needs (like my son's speech), or gifted children, it probably falls short. It's frustrating. Teacher friends of mine have said the same. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way, yet I don't have any better ideas so perhaps I ought to just keep my Aimsweb opinions to myself.

Meanwhile, I am very proud of how well both of my little students are doing. Even at this age, homeschool requires some self-discipline to do as well as they are doing. They are hard workers who really want to achieve their best, and I am blessed to be a part of the process.