No. A ‘book level’ or ‘reading age’ alone doesn't enable an overall accurate assessment of reading to be made. Through reading tasks in English, through reciprocal reading, the teacher will assess children’s ability:
- To decode print (to know what a words say) eg to sound out
- To use the context of the writing to tackle unknown words
- To vary intonation appropriately when reading
- To understand what they have read (to know what the words mean) e.g. to make predictions about a story
- To ask and answer questions about what has been read
- To discuss words and phrases that engage the reader. AR provides an additional tool for the teacher to use in informing this judgement
For more information about how the school assesses reading, please visit the school website or see your child’s class teacher.