October
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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.
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.
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.
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.