Don’t ask during drop off, open house, or any other public time. Teachers should not discuss your child any time someone else can over hear. This is a matter of privacy (under the umbrella of FERPA). Besides privacy, the teacher needs to be able to pay attention to the discussion, have time to think and reflect. Don’t have the conversation during any time other than an individual one on one appointment. Make an appointment. Sometimes this conversation goes ok by email, but below I outline a give-and-take that makes email difficult.
Thank the teacher for her time.
Recall my rules, including never stating what you think your child's reading level is.
First: State the concern
“Suzie’s reading homework is very different than what she’s reading on her own.”
“Johnny is commenting that he doesn’t find enough “story” in his box of reading books.”
“Matthew tells me he’s read all the books in the room.”
Second: Ask your true question
“What is Johnny’s current instructional reading level?”
If you suspect that the level is way off from your child’s actual level, ask more questions:
“Is that his instructional level or independent level?”
If the response is that this is the child’s instructional level, ask
“What skill are you working on?”
“What does that instruction look like?” Sometimes I’ll preface this with explaining that I don’t get a clear picture of my child’s day from my child. Sometimes the issue really is simply as basic as the teacher doesn’t call reading instruction the same thing I would, and so I don’t get the right picture from my kid.
If, say, you get the response that fluency is the sticking point, ask how you can support the teacher’s goals at home, and follow with,
“How are you working on the other skills of reading so that he can continue to progress in comprehension and decoding?” If you get a satisfactory answer to this question, please let me know. I certainly never have. I’ve also asked that the skills be independently assessed, and while my son has independent assessment in his 504, it’s never been done.
If the response is instead not that this is the instructional level, but the independent level, make the request that the teacher test to the child’s instructional level. Often the teacher is prevented from doing this either by school policy, the teacher’s available tools or training, or something else. If the teacher cannot tell you at what level your child requires instruction, ask how instruction can proceed. If, at this point, the teacher agrees to a follow up or change in assessment or instruction, then ask when it will start. Send an email after that start date to confirm it has happened.
If, at this point, nothing has changed, it’s time to head up the chain of command. Keep the teacher as part of this process. “Is there someone else at the school that can help with this?” “Who should I talk to?” Email correspondence with that person should always cc the teacher, otherwise the teacher ends up outside the loop, something I avoid as a rule. I often have to revise me email several times knowing that the teacher will read the email, with my rules in mind. Emails not cc’ing the teacher also come across as a complaint, but the simple act of including the copy communicates that the teacher is part of this discussion.