Both ALA’s American Association of School Librarians (AASL, a division of ALA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) have registered concerns in using such programs, pointing out the limitations and presumptions inherent in them, in determining what children of a certain age "should" read. Perhaps the most well-known of these programs for "leveled books" and "guided reading" are Accelerated Reader by Renaissance Learning and the Lexile Framework for Reading.
The position statement adopted by the American Association of School Librarians (a division of ALA) in 2011.
Questions and answers from the American Library Assocation about labeling and rating systems of books in libraries.
A blog post written by a former librarian at the New York Public Library.
Adopted in 2015 by the ALA Council.
Adopted in 205 by the ALA Council.
a handout from the ALA Annual Conference in 2013
School Library Journal, April 2006 "Labelling and Rating Systems: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights from ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom" (excerpt)
''I would like to organize sections of the library using reading level designations, such as those supplied by Accelerated Reader. Is this okay?''
While knowing the reading level of a book can assist library users, organizing a library via these labels can pose a psychological barrier for users who do not know their reading level. Many will feel that they should not utilize those resources. Users who do know their reading level may feel compelled to only select resources from their reading level. This will result in users not utilizing the full scope of the library collection.
A PDF of an article published in 2005 in School Library Media Research journal that provides an overview of research findings and papers regarding Accelerated Reader.
Written by Kathleen Porter-Magee, a Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
Written by a retired middle/high school librarian, and who has been actively involved in the Intellectual Freedom Committee of ALA.
The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language.
A search listing of SLJ articles on both the advantages and disadvantages of the programs.
AR is a computer program that helps teachers and librarians manage and monitor children’s independent reading practice.
A way to match readers with text using a proprietary scale that measures the level of challenge.
Developed by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell and uses a detailed alphabetic system to rate books within a grade level
compares Guided Reading, Reading Recovery, DRA, Lexile and Grade levels
compares Developmental Category, Grade Level, Guided Reading (numeric and alphabetic) and Lexile
compares Grade Level, Guided Reading, Basal, Degrees of Reading Power, Reading Recovery, DRA and Lexile