She Knows "What's Up"....

As Joe, Danielle and I were driving to her basketball practice yesterday, Danielle informed us that she would be tested today for her AR range. If you are wondering what this is, here's the jest of it.......
Each student in her school takes a "test" by reading a portion of a book, and some pre-selected words, to a teacher or trained reading volunteer. The person who is giving the test keeps track of how many words per minute they read, if they pronounce the words correctly, if they are able to retain the information, and so on. So, Danielle was tested a few months ago, and her range was 4.5ish to 6.2ish. These scores mean, fourth grade, (4), and half way through 4th grade (.5). Sixth grade (6), and 1 fifth into that grade (.2). So, if I have not confused you already, she was reading at a 4th grade to a 6th grade level. We should be happy. She is only in the 3rd grade. And not even half way through it. Hooray!!! All seems well, but it isn't.
Here's the reason. She has to take weekly tests according to her tested range. She is responsible for picking her book to read (it must be in the 4.5 to 6.2 range) and she has to get a certain number of points per week to meet her goal. These points vary, depending on the difficulty of the book. A month ago, she picked out a 6.2 book, and she brought it home, and she started to read it. It was super long, and it was about a family traveling from the east coast, to Idaho, by wagon train in like the 1800's. She was super interested in this. So, she read this book every night for over a week. She couldn't take any tests in the time she was reading it, because she wasn't finished with it yet. So, she didn't meet her reading goal that week, because she was still reading, not taking tests, because she needed to finish her book first. So, if you are not at your goal, you have to stay in at recess until you have met it. So, she had to stay in for most of the week.
Joe and I helped her get through a number of words in the book that WE found to be hard even for us. So, she read, and she read, and she read. Finally, she finished. She went to school that day, hoping to take her test and to get enough points to meet her goal, so she could go out to recess again. Well, she took the test, which, by the way, was a 6th grade test. When she got home that day, I asked her how it went, and she said she got a 50% on it. She was nearly in tears. She earned ZERO points, because she failed the 6th grade test. So she had to start all over. She had to go pick out another book, and start fresh. How frustrating is that?? I was not happy. And it wasn't with HER, it was with the system. She tried and tried and tried to finish the book, and retain the information so that she could go to school and take the test made for 6th graders. My question is...."Why can't she take a test intended for a THIRD grader. After all, she IS a 3rd grader. But, since she is ABLE to read at a higher level, never mind if she can retain some of it or not, she has NO CHOICE but to pick books within her tested range. How frustrating is that. Now, I have seen Danielle read well very at a fifth grade level. She reads even better at a fourth grade level. So, I have talked to her about picking "easier" books. But she is required to pick books within her range, and some of them HAVE to be 6th grade books.
So, now that I have confused you all, my original reason for posting this is because of what Danielle said in the car yesterday. She said..."I am going to take my AR range test tomorrow. Should I just miss a couple questions on purpose so my range won't be so high anymore?". WHAT?? It is totally ridiculous that Danielle should even be considering that. But she just wants reading to be "fun" again. Not so demanding. And she just doesn't see an end in sight. Some of the kids in her class are reading at fist grade levels, the range that they have been tested at, and they are breezing through these books that have like 20 words in the whole thing. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that the school has a system in place that challenges these children that are reading at above their grade level. But why on God's green earth should Danielle be "punished" because she reads exceptionally well??? Crazy. I am going to have to address this issue with the school, again......