The Limits of Reading Levels

In a recent post, Angela Maiers talks about the use of reading levels in literacy instruction and gives it her own 21st century literacy twist.

Good readers know that they can never to judge a book by it’s cover, but do good reading teachers know that they can not  judge a reader by their reading level? Reading Levels have always been a hot topic in my face-to-face conversations with teachers. Now, new Web 2.0  tools like Fab Lexile (Thanks Keisa) and Google Docs Text Leveling (Thanks Richard) have made it even easier to discover the reading level of your favorite text. But, before you punch in those numbers, let’s take some time to consider exactly what “reading level” means to readers

There is definite power and advantage in having a “gradient of increasingly more difficult text” for students to practice their developing literacy competencies across. Helping students understand their “just right” level can be aided by leveling tools and systems as it allows students to more efficiently find books that match their abilities and interests.

While I agree that the reliance on reading levels is incredibly problematic–I’ve heard students labeled “A 3″ by teachers who are uncritically immersed in reading level programs, which while seemingly innocuous is nothing less than dehumanizing–I also think that using free and immediate reading level assessment software like the one that comes with Google Docs (in its Word Count tool) can help students think critically about how they write.  Are they writing on a 5th grade or 11th grade level, according to the reading level assessor?  It’s determined by numbers of letters in words, words in sentences, sentences in paragraphs.  Is that all there is to writing well? Of course, not.  Can students learn to pay closer attention to their decisions as writers by considering these factors? Of course, they can.