School Concerns
What to do when you worry about school Dr. Bethany Ziss
Your kindergartener gets a brightly colored “AIMSWEB” report showing skills below the basic level. Your first grader still does not pronounce the “R” sound clearly. Your second grader is reversing letters in writing. Your third grader is spending hours on homework and doesn’t seem to understand the directions. Some children have delays that are identified very early on, and enter school already receiving services. But often concerns emerge in the early grades. It can be challenging to know where to go when you have worries about your child’s academic progress. And while everyone knows what a grade of A or D means in high school, young children often come home with reports using terms such as “progressing” or “mastered” which are a lot less clear. The first step with any concern about academic skills or progress should be your child’s teacher. She or he should be receptive to an e-mail or to schedule a meeting. You can go over report cards, test scores and your observations from home, and your child’s teacher can
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AHN Pediatrics • Spring 2022 • www.ahnpediatrics.org
share observations as well as expectations for your child’s grade level. Sometimes worries can be eliminated at this step. For example, some speech sound errors are not concerning in the youngest grades if a child’s speech is otherwise understandable. Some letter reversals are also common as children are learning to read and write. If concerns persist, there are several steps to getting children additional evaluation and support. Public schools provide academic intervention through a program called Title 1, and this is sometimes also available for children attending private schools. This is not considered special education. Typically, the school gives a computerized assessment to all the children several times a year. DIBELS, Aimsweb and STAR are three commonly used tests. Children who score below a cut-off are entitled to additional help in reading, math or both, usually in a small group setting. Title 1 support is sometimes also given to children where there is some concern about academic progress even if they do not score in the concerning range on the test.
