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On the Level by Donalyn Miller
While I was visiting an elementary school library in Chicago last spring, a group of third graders came into the library to return and check out books. The children wore index cards clipped to their shirts. On one side of the card was the child’s name. On the back, layers of sticky labels with the top label indicating the child’s current Lexile reading level. The poor librarian was required to check the reading level on the cards against the books the children wanted to check out. If a child picked a book that wasn’t on their level, she had to take it from them and tell them to get another one. Imagine what it feels like to hear you can’t read a book you want to read and must choose another one. Imagine your entire class witnesses this exchange. How do you feel about reading? How do you see yourself as a reader?
Again and again, I see reading level measures used to rank children, sort them into reading groups, identify at-risk readers, or generate grades. To what end? If we truly value a whole child model of education, children’s development of lifelong reading habits and skills should matter just as much as reading scores. Does our institutional zeal for reading levels have long-term negative consequences for young readers?
Restricting children’s reading choices to books that fit within their reading level warps children’s positive reading identity development and their perceptions of what reading is. Requiring students to read books “at their level” at all times limits children’s reading choices and derails intrinsic motivation to read, which is driven by interest, choice, and reader’s purpose—not reading level.
While we don’t want students laboring to read text that is too difficult for them to comprehend, or burn through books that provide little intellectual challenge, we must be mindful of how reading level systems affect how children see reading and themselves as readers. Reading levels are meant to guide, not limit or define children’s reading choices. Consider what reading level systems offer and what they don’t:
Reading level measurements apply to the texts children read, not the children themselves. Reading level instruments like Lexile were originally designed to measure text complexity. These tools were not created to assess children. Reading levels are tools that guide teachers’ instruction and text selection, not labeling systems for kids.
Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, the co-creators of the F & P Text Level Gradient™, have expressed concerns about the misuse of the leveling framework they created and how this distortion harms children’s reading agency and self-concept. In a recent School Library Journal interview, they emphasized, “It is our belief that levels have no place in classroom libraries, in school libraries, in public libraries, or on report cards.” Fountas and Pinnell insist that children should not use reading levels as limits when selecting books to read.
Reading level is inconsistent and varies from reading event to reading event and reader to reader. Don’t discount reader preparedness when determining the accessibility of a text. Physical health, alertness, stress, engagement, and our self-concept about reading all affect our ability to read any given text. Reading is a transaction between the reader and the text, and we don’t walk into new texts empty-handed. Readers bring our background knowledge, culture, gender, life experiences, and prior literacy experiences into every text, which affect our comprehension and motivation to read. The quality of the text drives our ability to read it, too. Well-written, engaging books are easier to read than boring, poorly written ones. Text formatting and book design features like font, page size, visuals, and color can influence text readability from reader to reader. Your preferences and experiences differ from mine. We don’t access the same text in the same way.
Reading level systems are scaffolds. Scaffolds are meant to come down. When I go to Barnes & Noble, I do not see adult readers looking for the blue dots or using the Five Finger Rule to find books to read. The goal of all teaching is independence. How are we guiding children toward independent reading lives? Children should be able to select a book for their own purposes and determine if they can probably read it. Dependence on reading level as the primary criterion guiding children’s book selection impedes their reading independence long term.
Children need modeling and instruction in how to preview and select reading material like readers really do. We cannot presume children know how to pick books for themselves. Many children report they struggle to find enjoyable books to read. The primary drivers of independent reading are choice and interest over everything else. As reading mentors, we can suggest books based on children’s interests that we think they can successfully read. If a child selects a book you suspect they cannot read independently, what strategies can you teach or resources can you provide that will help them read it, anyway? Do you know another book that might interest this reader, but is more accessible to read? Can you collaborate with your librarian to build your book knowledge or help you match children with books? Your informed guidance supports young readers long term. There is no substitute for knowing the kids and knowing their books.
Public labeling of book levels in school and classroom libraries violates students’ academic privacy. According to the American Library Association, students’ reading levels are confidential academic information—like grades and test scores. When students are required to select books from a visibly leveled collection, their academic information becomes public to everyone in sight—including other students, staff, and volunteers. Labeling levels also alters children’s book browsing behaviors and pushes reading level ahead of more authentic book selection criteria like author, genre, or topic. Libraries should be places where children can select books without restrictions or shame.
I continue to study and learn about the relationship between reading identity development and the roles that teachers, librarians, and families play in shaping children’s reading identities—both positive and negative. Adult readers do not use reading level systems to guide their reading choices. We must consider how these systems benefit developing readers temporarily or not at all. While using reading level as a scaffold to support students, we must teach and model authentic book selection skills. Confident, competent, independent readers can successfully self-select books. We must foster children’s ability to choose.
I look forward to learning from your comments. Please include any resources that have informed your understanding, so we can all learn.
Donalyn Miller has taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade English and Social Studies in Northeast Texas. She is the author of two books about encouraging students to read, The Book Whisperer(Jossey-Bass, 2009) and Reading in the Wild (Jossey-Bass, 2013). Donalyn co-hosts the monthly Twitter chat, #titletalk (with Nerdy Book Club co-founder, Colby Sharp). Donalyn launched the annual Twitter summer and holiday reading initiative, #bookaday. You can find her on Twitter at @donalynbooks or under a pile of books somewhere, happily reading.
Nerdy Book Club 
Donalyn, this is spot on! My first library job was at a school where colored dots were used for labeling levels. I struggled to help kids find things and had to monitor check-outs because students would judge others about the levels of books they were checking out. I shared those comments with teachers and principals in an effort to make changes. We got rid of the labeling and eventually did away with AR under another librarian.
Your post truly helps to bring understanding; teachers and librarians can pass this along to others to start discussions and hopefully, make change happen.
Becky I sadly had the same experience. Eventually the school stopped our subscription after seeing the actual cost. I had stopped labeling a year prior. If teachers and students wanted the information, I told them how to find it, but to me it was not important. Not surprisingly it was only a very very small number of students who wanted the info…the avid readers who were also highly competitive. I knew them well enough at that point to say how unimportant it was to finding a great book.
Becky, I too, enjoyed the information Donalyn provided in his initial post. Our school library is struggling with the same issues as yours once did. I teach Kindergarten and my students go to the Media Center each week. The students are also allowed to visit the Media Center in the morning to return and check out books as often as they would like to. My students are allowed to check out books of their liking, whether it matches their reading level or not. This is quite disturbing to me. I’ve spoken to the Media Specialist concerning this and we came to an agreement of the students selecting one of the two books checked out on their level. Unfortunately, this has not happened.
Our library is designed with the same colored dots as your media center has. The students in grades First thru Fifth are able to complete AR assessments. Kindergarten is not given that option. I do believe that AR is a profitable program, as it allows children to build on their comprehension and enhances vocabulary. However, if the program is not used properly, it can become a crutch to the students. I too, find that information on the needs of students to become good readers and my influence as the teacher progressional work. I will continue to search for the strategies that best suits my students in finding readable texts and how to locate them in our Media Center.
I agree! The lexile score was for labeling books, not children. I think if a child feels comfortable with a book, then let him/her read it. The goal is to get them to read. We as parents and educators have to accept the books they choose. By doing this we not only encourage reading, but also support their independence by accepting their choices. It’s a win/win situation.
As always, your words ring true and are so timely. The opening scenario reminds me of “Daisy” in Burkins and Yaris’ who’s Doing the Work? I have not used levels in my classroom library and make it my mission to guide students to “just right” books. It’s a work in progress and knowing that Ss can abandon a book if it’s not clicking for them helps with the sometimes tricky process. Thank you for your commitment to student readers and for this post!
You hint at this, Donalyn, but we also tend to underestimate the value of reading outside of our “levels.”
As a kid I read The New Yorker because my parents subscribed. Well, what I was really doing was reading about half of the cartoons and understanding half of them, but these experiences primed me for the day when I would understand more of the newspaper. Nowadays I “read” The Economist, which means I understand maybe a third of what I read and skim over a lot of nuance and international finance terms. I would be happy to defend this reading, even though my total comprehension is low.
We have to be confident that kids can still find deep and enduring meanings on texts that they may not understand fully.
I couldn’t agree more, Donalyn. I hate confining kids to a reading level. As a child I read books that were too easy for me, books that were too hard, books that were all over the map. It breaks my heart to see the life taken out of what should mostly be a joy–picking out a book and taking it on at whatever level you choose.
You are spot on. This is exactly what’s happening. The whole child approach is overlooked. I constantly stretch kids in reading or allow them to read new material, because they are the ones begging for it! There is no failure here. My second grade reading group wants me to read them “Summer of the Monkeys” by Wilson Rawls. I am doing it! Bravo to you!
I so agree with this! Students are labeled and leveled enough in school. The library should be one place where they can put those labels and levels aside and just browse and choose books based on their own interests. I read Little Women for the first time in second grade. Of course I didn’t get it all at that time, but no one ever told me I couldn’t read it and (thank goodness) I didn’t have to take a quiz to prove to someone that I read it. But I read it again the next year, and then again the year after that, and so many times since that I have lost count.
Unfortunately, many school librarians, like the one you mention, and like myself, have to work within schools and systems that insist on extending levels and labels to the school library. Do you have any advice for how to have meaningful conversations with principals and other administrators to help them understand how dangerous this practice is?
You noted that Fountas and Pinnell stated that book levels do not belong on a report card. I teach 1st grade, and after years of teaching balanced literacy with guided reading instruction – the administration adopted a basal reading program. What kinds of literacy and language arts information do you think should be listed as “grades” on a 1st grade report card. Parents are always acutely interested in whether their 1st graders are learning to read at “grade level”. Any advice?
At my school we give lots of anecdotal notes as well as “beginning, developing, or mastering” for common core standards (in reading and writing). This allows us to tailor individual feedback for each reader.
I hear you about parents wanting to know if their child is on grade level. When I tell parents that their students aren’t on level, the suggestion I have for them is to encourage their child to read, read, read. To make shared reading a priority at home. To visit the library. The research tells us that kids need to read massive amounts. Parents can support by giving their children free choice and exposure/access to lots of books! Hope this is helpful.
We don’t FORCE students to read on any levels, but I do have all of the Accelerated Reader books in the library labeled on the front with the points and levels. I have a LOT Of students who fail test after test and can’t finish books, and it is often because the books really are too hard for them. When we start at a lower level and work up to harder books, they do well and start to enjoy reading more. Like any tool, levels can be used well or poorly. Restricting students to a particular level is not a good idea, but the levels can be helpful to students and teachers when trying to find comfortable books that are not frustrating.
Your first paragraph really got my attention because at my school it is the librarian herself who limits our kids. She makes the little ones read within their ZPD and they have to pass 3 AR test before moving on. My sixth graders have stopped getting books from her library and only get from mine. One student commented that my books challenge him and that the school library is fine for little kids. Our system needs to change.
Just shared this post with staff. We still give AR parties😞. I’m trying to change their thinking.
Thank you for another great post! I observe this first hand at book festivals. Seeing a kid gravitate enthusiastically to a picture book, only to be told by a parent that there are “not enough words,” or “too many words,” and then to overhear that their kid is a reluctant reader. “NO WONDER!” is what I always want to shout. As a reluctant reader myself as a kid, it was pictures that drew me in, and now I draw pictures in books for a living. Whatever gateway it takes to get kids reading is my motto, and I think visual literacy counts too.
First off thank you for your advocacy. I am currently battling (strong word) my dean of instruction because I am the only teacher in the building that does not label the books. She asks “How will they know what to pick without a label?” My reply is “when spend a lot of time learning to find books at our level that we enjoy. We, also, learn to pick books that may challenge us and what to do if it is too hard.” After 21 years of teaching reading my practice is challenged and threatened. Thank you for this post and links.
Your post resonates with the years of work I have done as a reading specialist, literacy coach and now college professor. Readers are so much more than a level! Those levels are to support a teacher’s instructional decisions, not define a child. A lexile or guided reading level is just one piece of information to take into consideration when choosing a book for reader. Thank you for continuing to spread this message!
Last year I taught a class of fifth graders who were “guests” in my advanced academic classroom. Most of them did not speak English at home. I fought administration the whole first quarter to get them out of the leveled guided reading books and into real literature. Through a lot of book talks and read alouds I was able to create an excitement for reading in my classroom. By the end of the year many had read some or all of the Harry Potter books and were choosing titles that their friends liked. I think there may be a place for leveled books with early or struggling readers, but children need to be excited about what they are reading, even in an instructional setting.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it…I even wear a badge every day that says, “I believe that reading is reading, so read what you want.”
I agree with everything you said! Plus… Before I became a school librarian I was a first grade teacher. I had one little boy that wanted to learn to read more than anything else in the world. His daddy read to him every night and he wanted to be able to read to his daddy. The amount of effort that child put into learning to read was amazing. And he did learn to read. If a child finds a book that hits their interest level, even if the book is written above their reading level at a frustration level they can read and comprehend it because they want to so badly. Reading level is for instruction not for pleasure reading. Pleasure reading means you get to pick what you want to read even if it’s too easy even if it’s too hard. It’s readers choice.
This blog post was timely and well- written. I believe that many schools, librarians and teachers fall into the leveling trap” with the best of intentions. They earnestly believe that readers are best served by reading text “on their level” (whatever that means). I think that presenting the facts in an ordered, well-researched manner as you have done here will go far in getting this important message out. This is definitely a post that I will be sharing! Thank you for continually sharing the light of literacy!
I wholeheartedly agree with you! I am a 4th grade teacher and get so, so tired of sitting in”data” meetings where all we do is look at the reading levels of our students. I believe in the workshop approach to teaching reading, I have built a classroom library of over 3000 books and none of them are arranged by reading levels. They are arranged by author, genres, and topics. My students read books they have chosen for many reasons other than reading level. Every year my students become independent life long readers!
As s school librarian I so agree. Studies have found systems log reading levels discourage reading in later years. Additionally, vocabulary does not indicate story line sophistication. Many books have complex themes and children may not have the life experience to comprehend. However the vocabulary is low. My master thesis showed the more the locus of control is internal self selection, the better the outcome!
As someone who works with elementary teachers providing professional learning, I would be interested in the research you reference and in your master’s thesis information. I share with my teachers all the time the importance of engaging students with real experiences and building concepts before introducing vocabulary, so this would be very helpful to be able to share with my teachers. Thanks!
I linked several resources in the piece and also referenced Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell’s body of work. The Psychology Today article linked may be of particular interest to you. My second book, Reading In the Wild, describes the action research I conducted with my students during my master’s program.
As a teacher of 30+ years I appreciate your thoughts regarding a child’s need to have freedom to choose his/her books. However, if the F&P lexile levels are used as a guide for children and teachers, the children are more likely to make greater gains through successful reading fluency and vocabulary. Many students take pride in knowing exactly what level they are reading and what level they can stretch to next…
Fountas and Pinnell do not support children knowing their reading levels in this way: https://lesleyuniversitycrrlc.wordpress.com/2013/10/23/text-levels-tool-or-trouble/
Excellent post. Well stated.
This is truth! I have a doctorate, and I love to read children’s books for my reading pleasure. What does this say? We are motivated to read things we like, of course. Our elementary school librarian is a master at matching student interest to just the right book so kiddos will get hooked on reading. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this important topic.
This is a great article. At the middle school level I’m seeing the same issues but at the other end of the spectrum. My students are turning away from great books because they are required to read books with high Lexile levels. Middle school is the perfect time to catch kids and build their love of reading. For the most part they are fluent readers and could really take off with their reading but now we are turning them away by requiring reading of material they are not interested in. So sad.
Thank you for this article. Years ago, I leveled books when I first started teaching, but for myself, to be better informed in helping my students find accessible books. I have never wanted students to limit themselves or identify themselves by a number, a letter or a sticker. But now, I have been “encouraged” to level my library so that students can be directed to certain books or sections. My library is vast and organized, and I appreciate being able to include this article in defense of allowing choice.
Label jars, not people. I couldn’t agree with this article more!
Thank you, Donalyn for a thoughful, informed post. I could not agree more with your stance. As an educator for 42 years and a school librarian for 29, I had to fight the battle against labelling books (and readers!) only twice. Each time I was able to convince my staff and principal that it was a bad idea. When one principal mentioned to me that she wanted to implement AR, I calmly replied, “That’s interesting. I hope your new librarian likes the program.” She was taken aback and asked me what I meant. I explained the drawbacks of leveling versus free choice reading and told her that I wasn’t trying to be difficult but I could not in good conscience recommend or work with that program. I was not combative, but affirmed that, if they chose to implement any time of reading leveling that limited students’ free choice in the library, I would resign and go elsewhere. I also and loaned her Stephen Krashen’s book and an ALA paper. We continued with student choice!
This post is liberating. It says what I want to say to my teachers about finding balance with their instruction and cultivating a LOVE of reading in the kids. Thanks for this level of honesty and inspiration.
Are book levels grades? Might they be seen in the same light as kids walking publicly into a graded classroom? Is that violating their privacy…or are those designations simply reflective of the level at which they are working?
Also…book levels pinned onto kids? Restricting kids from “stretch books?” What we’re they thinking?! They need lessons on empathy!!
If we publicly displayed children’s grades, that would violate their academic privacy, too. Reading levels are academic information just like grades are.
While I agree, mostly, I still believe that many children are too immature to make a good choice without some guidelines and guidance. The 5 finger rule is a tool to help readers learn/understand when a book is too difficult. They are often not honest about level difficulty otherwise. I work with struggling 3rd grade readers who need 1st and 2nd grade level books for independent reading. They are the students who like to carry around Harry Potter and pretend to read it. I don’t want their time wasted because they are trying to look cool. We allow the students to try it out! And when we conference with them and they are unable to discuss their book with us because they can’t comprehend it (it is too hard), that’s when we have a discussion about choosing Good Fit Books. I don’t think a beginning reader or transitional reader has any business trying to read Harry Potter. It’s up to me to find books in that genre that they CAN read. I don’t like using levels to limit kids, but they are still kids – they need some parameters. It’s up to us not to draw a hard line and insist that they live within those boundaries. Sure, adults don’t need blue dots and the 5 finger rule, but we are mature enough to know when something is too hard to read, we don’t keep reading it.
I totally agree with you Sara. Thats where I would like more insight from someone and Donalynn Miller might could jump in and help Clarify 🙂 I totally agree and love Donalynn’s insight on book choice and students should not be limited and told what to choose! So True! But also with everything Sara was saying is so real life. Im in a K-2 building as the library media specialist. Never would I tell students they “have to choose a certain book” But, our K-2 students have great difficulty choosing a book that they can read at all, totally I understand that yes they can choose harder books and parents ect can read and help ect. But, in all honesty our students do not have parent support, what they get at school is it.. so they too like Sara said will choose giant chapter books and literally stare at them never able to put letters and sounds together to even form the words let alone comprehend. Therefore, they are totally emergent readers needing to be engaged in successful text , emerged in text they are able to read in order to build fluency and grow as a reader…. so I would love some insight into that when research says we do to emerge in our students in text they are engaged in yet allowing total choice
I completely agree with you Sara! I believe “good fit” books are of importance to emerging/ readers. I have seen students never finish a book throughout the course of a school year. What benefit are we providing at a school library if students check out but never enjoy a book from cover to cover. In our classroom, one out of two choices needs to be in their ZPD.
Reading levels are merely a tool that can be useful when used appropriately and thoughtfully, I found leveled reading to be useful when I was in the classroom. Here’s an observation I made about it https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=126de215b84ddbb4&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Daee87d23d2%26view%3Datt%26th%3D126de215b84ddbb4%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dattd%26zw&sig=AHIEtbQjq_hKjw_9SHLJPc47v-
I agree with many of your points Sara. While I understand labeling children can be detrimental, I also think having a conversation with a student about their level is important. Data talks are powerful, and students love to see and feel their growth. While I never reprimand a student for picking a book outside of their level band, during independent reading time, I encourage they pick a “just right book” to maximize their thinking. I think it is extreme to say having leveled books in your room is a violation of a student’s academic information. I think balance is key and creating a nurturing classroom negates a child’s negative feeling toward reading.
I teach second grade, and they so often pick completely inappropriate books. Open conversations, goals, and conferencing with students is crucial to a student’s success. I tell my students their GRL, but I give them a wide band to pick from. When you are in constant communication with your students, they feel confident in their abilities. The most important thing in a literacy rich classroom is safety; students have to feel it is okay to experiment with books. I also encourage them to have fun when they go to the media center and pick books.
I’ll never forget when the librarian at my school ripped an early chapter book out of my hand and said I couldn’t check it out. I was in third grade. My friend had just checked out one. When I asked why she got to check one out, his reply . . . Because she was a better reader than me. My face burned with embarrassment and shame when he said that. Yes, I was a struggling reader, but the fact that I wanted to read something a little harder should have been celebrated. Thank goodness my mom went out and bought the same book and read it at home with me. In fact, she bought more books and we made lots of trips to the public library too. Now guess what I do? I teach first grade where I work super, super hard to instill a love of reading in my students.
I agree that leveling has no place in choice of books in any library for any student. I noticed that iyou mentioned that ilevels should not be reported to parents. What type of reading grade should a first grade teacher put on a report card? This has been my dilemna for years!
You failed to mention how levels are detrimental to the advanced reader as well. My oldest 2 kids struggled with this in school. Our school at the time was just starting to use AR. There were some positives; teachers were more willing to let them just read for homework and in class. However, imagine being a third grader reading at an 8th grade level or higher. Very few of the books written at that level are what a third grader really wants to be reading, many of the themes aren’t appropriate for them. Even books I would suggest would often turn out not to be at a high enough level. Rather than continuing to love reading, my kids were frustrated with the process.
You fill my soul! As a lover of books for kids I want you to know I feel validated reading your blog about leveling. I love to check out a book to a student who wants it so bad they hug it as they leave the library , not able to read one word. But they will…
Thanks for this post, Donalynn. It’s clear that what is regularly called “research-based practice” is a misapplication of research.
I love your book and am trying to figure out how to implement into our program. I have a unique set-up in that I teach an SEL/Organization class every period (7) and have 15 other teachers that teach it 1-2 class periods a day. Since I have the freedom to create my lessons, I know implementation is a possibility! I thought of starting this year with the small step of the #classroombookaday. The problem I see is having enough books for each teacher, so thought I would ask you how you find all of your books. Or if you think there would be an easier implementation. Or would you suggest using one period day of just free reading. Would love your input!
That is the best argument against leveling books that I have ever read!
I totally agree with your article. However, I can’t help but think we do this at all levels in the American education system. SAT’s separate the wheat from the chafe as nearly all highly select colleges continue to use these test scores as a measure of college aptitude, when that was never their intent. All of our standardized testing is one glimpse into the thinking of a child on a particular day in a particular year. Educational theorist after educational theorist tells us that we should accept and applaud educational differences in students, yet we continue to measure our students by boring multiple choice timed tests. It’s infuriating, and it never changes.
When I was an elementary librarian, my students could check out two books at a time. One book was a “just right” book, on their reading level, which most of them knew. They could also determine whether or not the book was “just right” by using a simple five finger test. They opened to any page in the book, began reading, and put up one finger each time they came to a word they couldn’t figure out. If they got five fingers up before they finished the page, it probably wasn’t “just right”; however, they could check it out as their second book, a “just for fun” book. Giving them this flexibility made their library visits much more pleasant. I was often told by teachers that students indicated to them that the library was their favorite place in the school.
As a former middle school librarian, I was never encouraged to label books. I never even thought about it and after reading all of these responses, I’m thankful for that. I believe in providing children with a variety of subjects and reading matter. Now that schools are requiring students to carry around ipads all day (and not books), I’d say just getting students to enter a library is an accomplishment, let alone checking out a book and then reading it. I have written 16 MG non-fic books (Mitchell Lane Pub, Purple Toad Pub) and appreciate the effort publishers put into providing attractive, informative titles for readers as well.
I totally agree. As an avid reader and an elementary reading teacher, I cringe when my students pick up a book and ask me is it on their level. Thank you for this post as it is definitely needed!!!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Teacher who have been at this a long time can remember real kids picking out books to really read. Books weren’t chosen in levels, for points, or to take a test!
Amen! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I despise how much emphasis our school puts on using exiles to find a just right book for a student. I refuse to level my class library. When a student comes to me and says, “I want to read this book, but the Lexie is too low,”. I feel awful. I always tell them I would hate for them to miss out on a great read because the Lexie is too low.
As a special education teacher, I’m truly pleased to read such thoughtful point of view and guidance for teachers. I’ve seen so many unexpected breakthroughs and variations on development and pivotal moments, as well as the shame that can come with the stickers that divide language, art, literature, into levels..
SOOOOOO glad to see the tide is turning on pigeon holing kids into reading levels! About a 12 years ago there was a lot of pressure to level the public library easy reader and chapter book collections, and at the time I felt like a lone voice in the wilderness advocating to NOT do this. I had first hand experienced watching my own son at age 8 decide he no longer liked reading due to the Accelerated Reader program at his elementary. I am happy to report that he returned to reading again as a young adult, but he went through a long phase of not enjoying books, and dreading those tests.
I’m so torn. My school (a public charter) has just started using FLOW 360 and Accelerated Reader. As the Title I teacher for 4th grade students, I see my students pick up books that everyone else is reading, faking their way through and completely unable to tell me with any accuracy at all what the book was about because it was too hard for them. On the other hand, I see students who want to read a book but “can’t” because it’s too low or occasionally, too high. Since I share my classroom library with the whole 4th grade, I have all the books labeled and ready for AR quizzes, however, I explain to them they can read any book they like, but not all of them are good for them to use for AR. I suggest that they alternate. One book is an AR book for their reading goal and when they finish it, the next one can be whatever they are interested in reading. I feel like it’s the best I can do for them; give them the opportunity to be successful at a level we are reasonably sure they can do well, as well as give them the opportunity to choose just because a book looks interesting to them. My hope is that they will understand #1, that just because someone else is reading it, doesn’t mean it’s right for them and #2, to be successful and grow, they need to start out in the shallow end and work their way out into the deeper waters of reading.
I just forwarded this article to my direct supervisor. Apparently I was taken to task because my students did not know their reading level. I encourage my students to read whatever interests them, and offer them support in the way of audiobooks if a book is a little too difficult to decode. Am I wrong for doing that?
Donalyn, the anecdote you shared about children entering the library with index cards clipped to their shirts is heartbreaking and yet so representative of what happens in elementary and middle schools across the country. Lexile has been made king, and our poor students are being sacrificed at his throne! We want kids to love reading, but we force them to read certain texts and disallow them to read others. It really doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t we be encouraging students to read anything and everything that interests them? I understand the theory behind requiring students to read books that are neither too easy nor too difficult, but surely there is a better way than locking them into a set of numbers. I recall, when I was in 7th grade, my school librarian refused to let me check out a particular book from the school library. Where I grew up, the middle and high school shared the media center. I wasn’t allowed to check out Pride and Prejudice because it was on the “high school” side of the library. Luckily this didn’t discourage me from reading it; my mom bought the book for me from a local bookstore. However, many kids who are told they aren’t allowed to read something will just give up altogether! I am also reminded of one of my own students who, in 7th grade, was required to read texts at his own lexile of 1400. His choices were limited to books with very adult content or text-book style informational pieces. He was traumatized. When he entered my class and found out he had to do an independent reading project, he immediately tensed up and raised his hand to ask if the book he chose had to be at his lexile level. When I told him “no,” he breathed a huge sigh of relief. “I can read whatever I want?” he asked. “Yes!” I told him. If the goal is to make kids better readers, we should encourage reading that they actually enjoy. Otherwise, they will learn to hate reading and will refuse to do it. And that benefits no one!
I couldn’t agree more! In elementary school, my daughter’s official level was higher than her interest level. Because she was restricted to her level for book check-out, she simply stopped checking out any books at all! Luckily, a conference with her teacher and media specialist resulted in her being allowed to check out books she wanted to read.
It does take a bit of experience to set up a classroom library by genre and still be able to match kids to books. With a bit of trial and error and being willing to learn a new way of doing things, most teachers understand the benefit of students being able to browse books that interest them first, then check to see if they can read them easily. As we teach them to choose books they will enjoy and offer book suggestions that mirror their interests and level of proficiency their confidence will grow.
Interestingly, even the youngest readers know “their level” no matter how covert we try to be. I think the trick is talking to them about their ability to read books around a level and not identifying them as the level itself. Funny how a little difference in semantics can build kids up or tear them down!
I couldn’t imagine putting an index card with a Lexile level on the back to determine what a child can read. You are robbing them of choice and books that pique their interest. We are looking to make them lovers of reading. Reading level measurement does apply to the text and not the children themselves. The Lexile levels were meant to measure text complexity. They serve as a guide for the teacher’s instruction only.
When I was writing my report cards, I noticed that some teachers put the students reading level. I got an email from my principal stating that she appreciated that I talked about the strengths of the student and the next steps. I did write about their reading or Lexile levels.
I remember my classroom library being leveled. Now I’ve learned to separate them by genre. I also learned to branch out to comic books, graphic novels, magazines and yes joke books. They love them. They recommend must-read books to me. The problem is that when I think I’ve got my hands on one, one of the students wants it. I guess I’ll have to wait but I am so grateful to do so. I also live the facts that they choose those difficult books they are interested in and reads them with their book buddies.
You made some very interesting and accurate points in your blog about students reading on their level versus them being able to read based on interest. As an educator, I feel it is very critical that we have students read things they are interested in. They are more likely to be engaged in the text if it is something they have chosen. Students often rely on the color of dots to guide what they are supposed to check out from the library. I have 3 children ranging from 2nd grade to pre-kindergarten. My 2nd grader loves to read the Magic Tree House books. He also loves Dogman books. When I suggested he go check one out at the library during school, he told me “I can’t, it’s not on my level”. This is what his teacher, not sure which year, has told him in the past, so he does what he is told. Needless to say, I ended up buying him the entire series (first 30 books) in the Magic Tree House series and a Dogman book for Christmas. See, the important thing to remember about this situation is that my son struggles in reading. He is currently in pull out classes for Tier 2 intervention. So my question is…by telling a child he can’t check out books he wants to try and read, or have read to him at home, how are we instilling the desire to read for pleasure, let alone as he grows needing to read for content knowledge. Since he now has the books he wanted to read, he is begging to continue reading together each night and even reading some himself. Teachers need to understand that students are going to desire to read what their peers are reading, regardless if they are able to or not. We should foster this desire and encourage them to try, while guiding them through the process of learning strategies to help them along the way. They more they are exposed to different books with varying “levels” of ability, the more susceptible they are to grow in their reading ability.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to categorize their collection other than using leveled colors?
I truly enjoyed reading this blog. Although I agree with several points you made in the article, I can also see how reading levels can be useful in the early years. I do believe that reading levels can inhibit our students and take fun out of reading. Our library has a coded system where students are only allowed to check out books that are in the reading levels. I feel this system labels our students. As you mentioned, the Lexile score was designed as an instrument to measure text complexity. They should not be used to limit student access to books of their choice. Lexile information should be private. When we label our students, it does not remain private. As you mentioned, students can see when their friends are nt allowed to get the same books as them. This can be detrimental to a child’s esteem and confidence when it comes to reading. My son is a 6th grader who has difficulty with reading comprehension. He was diagnosed with ADHD and receives services due to other health impairments with the special education department. When it comes to reading text, my son excels! He has always been great with vocabulary and spelling. However, he struggles with comprehending what he has read. The idea of Lexile is to determine a readers’ comprehension. Just because a student has difficulty comprehending the text does not mean he r she should not be allowed to read the text. I allow my child to read any book of his choice. I provide support to him while he is reading so he can enjoy his book. The goal is to encourage reading not put students in a confined Lexile bubble. Students have a right to read whatever book they choose. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), individuals have a right to read, and the individual has the right to freely choose what they read.
On the other hand, I believe Lexile or reading levels can be useful for early readers. I am talking about the beginning readers. This system can help educators calculate the complexity of a text for the students. For example, you would not want a beginning reader to choose a book on the 8th grade level. As far as the older group of students, I think teachers should not use Lexile numbers to stop a student from choosing a book of their choice. Instead, I can see a teacher encouraging a student to choose a book that is on or higher than their Lexile level (not lower). This can challenge their minds and possibly give them confidence and assurance to strive higher. In an article, “What’s New in Literacy Teaching?”, Hiebert mentions some actions teachers can take to ensure students participate with the text. Hiebert insists that teachers can increase the amount that students are reading and have students make explicit goals for increased stamina and reading. I think these are great strategies to boost reading among our students instead of limiting their possibilities.
National Council of Teachers of English. The Students’ Right to Read. https://ncte.org/statement/righttoreadguideline/
After reading your post, I have to say I agree with you on many levels. I believe that Lexile levels can help be a starting point, but they should not be the only deciding factors. It was fascinating to see that Fountas and Pinnell expressed that their given levels should not be the end when having students pick their books. It seems that there has been such a push for this within school systems due to seeing set Lexile levels that students must score in order to pass state standardized tests. However, students should have the ability to choose books that they are genuinely interested in because if not, it could potentially rob them of the great joy of loving to read. I like how you mention that students should be taught how to choose appropriate books and given strategies and tools to help them. As you mentioned, I also believe that it is imperative to know your students and help them find purposeful matches to texts of similar interest and be more appropriate for them. In doing so, students would not feel they are being turned away from reading a particular book but are being supported and guided by their teacher when necessary. The majority of the time, texts that have been chosen for classroom instruction are usually of higher text complexity, so students are regularly being given a variety of materials that are already challenging. If the text is not as difficult, perhaps the task given with the text is. Either way, with Common Core in place for most states, most students are already being exposed to various texts, all while the text complexity increases as they move forward in their education. So why not allow students to choose books on their own when given the opportunity?
I have also experienced first-hand, a library only allowing students to check out books from their level. My first experience was as an elementary school student. I remember my teacher and librarian telling us to remember our levels and colors. I also remember picking the same books over and over on my level because I didn’t want to try more challenging books or cared to try to test up to the next level through our AR program. I also have experienced a student being told that they would have to pick another book. I commend the librarian because I knew that she didn’t agree with this practice. However, she provided great alternatives that piqued the interest of my student. In my first and second years of teaching, I taught in a school system that heavily used Lexile. We were expected to use Lexile data to inform our teaching. We used the data to make reading groups, determine at-risk students, needed early intervention, and determine those that would be moved to tier 2 instruction. I understand what it feels like to teach within a school or system that relies heavily on reading level measurements. It places pressure on the teacher and students to perform. I feel that it is important to use reading level measurements as a guide to understand and determine where the child is. Then, we can use the leveled passages for teaching and strengthening comprehension and critical thinking skills. Lastly, I have never thought about the idea of publicly displaying reading levels as a violation of student academic privacy. I have seen classrooms where teachers have posted their students’ levels up on the wall like a leaderboard to create competition. It makes me think about the struggling reader that sees the students that are at 450L and they are at BR400. As Donalyn mentioned, we must think about its implications. Overall, I feel that we should let students pick and enjoy books that interest them and if the book is too hard, read it to them. I feel that it is the only way that we can genuinely foster positive reading identifies and relationships in children.
I could not agree with this article more. The more and more I, as an educator, learn about reading level, the more I see that it is so much more than one factor. By making students fit into a guideline that does not support their learning and interests we are turning them away from reading. When students don’t want to read, they don’t get better at reading. In the Podcast Text Complexity and the Early Grades with Dr. Heidi Ann Mesmer, she encourages choosing materials that children want to read, can read, and that they are challenged by. Challenged by being the last in the factors when choosing materials. We want students to want to read and we want them to be able to understand what they are reading. Hiebert What’s Complex in Text Complexity says “As readers move through a text, they acquire knowledge from the text and integrate and assess the text’s content with what they already know on a topic or even genre.” Even if a book is on a child’s level, if they don’t have the background knowledge to support the information in the text, their comprehension of that text will not be on par for what they should be able to read. When looking at the text complexity we must look at more than one factor. Fostering a love for reading and getting them to challenge themselves to push more, to grow more, to learn more, is what is at the heart of our jobs as educators. If my students want to read, I’ve started something. Approaching each student individually and understanding their needs as a reader when it comes to texts will help them continue to grow. Your statement, “Confident, competent, independent readers can successfully self-select books. We must foster children’s ability to choose.” was powerful to me. I hope that by not setting hard and fast guidelines, based on few factors, but by allowing students the ability to choose within a set of flexible guidelines, based on many factors, that change as they grow, they will be able to successfully and competently choose books that they are interested in and that will help them grow.
Education has more a focus on the data, then the ones who are producing that data. As long as progress and growth show in the numbers, then teaching services have been deemed well used. It is sad that this is the process where teachers have been evaluated, instead of the twinkle in a student’s eye when they understand something or how the student will ramble to their parents about what they did today as they show off their work. As noted by the author of this blog, Donalyn Miller, this is no way to encourage the development of life-long independent learners when at such a young age you are categorizing them and demeaning them in front of their peers. To have a child stand with a book they so carefully chosen that may have reminded them of their grandfather who told them wild stories at bed time to have that option stripped from them instead. This is extreme but the emotion for the child is still there. Elfrieda Hiebert in her article What’s Complex in Text Complexity, breaks down the tests and the history of changes that led to this system. The article also explains that teachers need to understand how the tests determine book levels in order to properly utilize it as a tool. If the test labels are better understood, then like in Miller’s blog post, scaffolding can go up to help a student understand a student chosen book. The teacher could monitor book choices, and encourage book club discussions in the classroom instead of sustained silent reading. Eventual these scaffolds will come down as the child matures through the grades and become the life long reader that the teacher hopes for.
I absolutely agree with the points in your article. I once worked at a school similar to what you described. Students were required to check out books at the school library within their reading range ZPD. It made class library days dreaded because students were often embarrassed by having to pick from what they called “the baby books.” It also usually restricted their reading choices to a shelf or two when the library was filled with wondrous materials. Back in my personal classroom library, students would select books based on interest and appeal. Frequently I would have students checking out my dictionaries because they were the largest books in my first-grade library. They were in awe of the number of words inside and would spend hours pursuing the pages. In his article “Letting the Text Take Center Stage” (2013), literary expert, Timothy Shanahan makes the case that “research has found no consistent relationship of student-text match and learning. Despite the hard work of so many teachers to make certain that students are in the “just right” book, doing so does not appear to promote learning.”
To your point that reading level systems are scaffolds meant to come down, I further support your thoughts. In their article “Addressing CCSS Anchor Standard 10: Text Complexity” (2014), Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey state that, “teachers who understand the qualitative factors that contribute to a text’s complexity can plan instruction and support so that all students benefit from what rich text has to offer.” The job of teachers is to prepare to students to become lifelong readers. Avid readers, as adults or children, do not choose topics based on their ability but instead their interests. Effective teachers will equip their students with strategies for reading success of all texts. At the first-grade level, many students are still in the early stages of reading, so we spend a lot of time discussing how we can read books through both pictures and words. This empowers students to explore texts beyond what they feel capable of reading. Additionally, it strengthens their reading as they seek to make connections between the words and pictures, proving that reading level restrictions are not the answer to student success.