Dear Parent/Guardian s15

Date: Dear Parent/Guardian: During the summer of 2014, the Oklahoma State Legislature approved amendments to the Reading Sufficiency Act (RSA) allowing students who demonstrate proficiency through the district screening assessment an exemption from the mandatory retention law. Your student was assessed this year by the state-approved MAP assessment. Your student scored proficient in reading for third grade and is now exempt from mandatory retention.

Based on these assessments, your child’s approximate Lexile is ______.

Although your child is exempt from the RSA retention law, his/her teacher has set growth goals for your student and your student will take part in the end of year assessments.

Here are some things that you can do at home to support your student’s reading progress:  Set a goal to read at least 20 minutes a day.  Look for fiction and non-fiction books that are near your student’s reading level. You can access a free book matching site at Book Expert Online (www.scholastic.com/bookexpert) or access free resources at Find-A-Book (www.lexile.com/fab). This website lets your know if your book selection is available at your public library.  Encourage your student’s interests! If your student has deep knowledge on a certain topic, then he/she should be able to read books and articles on this topic at a higher reading level with greater confidence. Your student’s reading ability can be “stretched” with more complex texts on familiar topics.  Familiarize your student with informational texts. With your supervision, your student should look at the newspaper, informational websites, product manuals, assembly directions, how-to guides, and other materials that may contain technical words and formats.

Thank you for taking time to help build your student’s reading skills. Please speak with your child’s teacher about his/her growth goals for this school year.

Natalie Hutto Curriculum and Instruction Office 918-925-1130 [email protected].