What is Text Leveling?

What is text leveling and why is it key to literacy development?

Fountas & Pinnell Level, Lexile Range, independent reading level, instructional reading level - chances are you have encountered these terms when reading academic reports or attending parent-teacher conferences. And unless you’re a teacher, it’s a pretty safe bet you’re a little confused about book leveling systems! Take comfort in the fact that you are not alone. Book publishers use a very specific formula to determine a text’s level of difficulty. Teachers administer leveling assessments to their students for the purpose of finding reading materials that are an appropriate match for their skills. These assessments take into consideration a number of important factors: reading speed, reading accuracy, and reading comprehension. Once the reading level is determined, your children’s teachers (and you) can use this information to help propel your child’s reading skills to the next level. How do we do this? Simply put, reading more leads to reading better! It may seem obvious, but the amount of time children spend reading independently directly correlates to their development as readers. This is where the leveling system comes in. If children are reading text at their instructional level, the work they are putting into practicing this skill is going to make them better readers. Text level is important because if the text is too easy, they are not being exposed to word patterns that contain the complexity needed to reinforce and solidify their acquired skills. If the level is too challenging, they will not be able to decode the text quickly or accurately enough to support comprehension. In a nutshell, this is why text leveling is vital to reading instruction!

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Click below to check out the text level correlation chart that compares Grade Level, Lexile Level, and Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level.