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1. Just overhead something that made me want to tweet again. The following story is all true. Teachers who use reading levels, listen up…
2. At a local bookstore here in Pacific Grove on a Saturday morning. Three girls ~10 yrs old are there having fun looking through books.
3. One approaches the counter with a book and money in hand
Girl: excuse me, do you know the Lexile level of this book?
Me:
Girl: excuse me, do you know the Lexile level of this book?
Me:
4. Staff: Lexile level? What is that?
Girl: it’s the reading level of the book. My school uses it
Me: (biting tongue furiously)
Girl: it’s the reading level of the book. My school uses it
Me: (biting tongue furiously)
5. Staff: Oh... is that something I can look up?
Girl: Im not sure.
Staff: (starts typing on computer)
Me: (under my breath) here we go...
Girl: Im not sure.
Staff: (starts typing on computer)
Me: (under my breath) here we go...
6. Me: (rudely interrupting) Yeah, you can look it up online, but I wouldnt-
Staff: 540L! I found it!
Me: -worry about it...
Staff: 540L! I found it!
Me: -worry about it...
7. Girl: 540L? Oh, thats not in my level. I can’t read it. My school says I have to get books in my level.
AND THEN SHE PUT THE BOOK BACK ON THE SHELF!
AND THEN SHE PUT THE BOOK BACK ON THE SHELF!
8. Before you ask, No, I didnt swoop in and buy the book for her, loudly announcing to everyone “TEACHING AT READING LEVELS IS A MYTH!” to a standing ovation. It was awkward enough that I even interrupted as a strange man in a book store.
9. But it was a big enough moment for me to write this story highlighting the problem with schools and teachers pushing the idea of reading levels
10. This young reader was excited to buy a new book, maybe with her own money that she had saved, and when confronted with “her level”, she put it back because the numbers didn't match
11. Its not like she picked it up and decided herself that it was too hard. She had already flipped through it and decided she wanted it. In her own words, “My school says I have to get books in my level” so she "can't read it"
12. Sure, if she got the book, she may have struggled through it, giving up halfway through, but so what? She wanted to read a new book and just denied herself the chance because someone told her it wasn't "in her level"
13. I’m not saying differentiation is bad or that students should not be encouraged to choose books they can read without support, but setting boundaries on what books are “too hard” “too easy” or “just right” serves only to deny readers access to books, nothing more.
14. But don’t take my word for it: Some data analysis via @ReadingShanahan http://shanahanonliteracy.com/upload/publications/98/pdf/Shanahan---Should-we-teach-at-reading-level.pdf
15. Some history on the reading level myth via @rpondiscio https://edexcellence.net/articles/leveled-reading-the-making-of-a-literacy-myth
16. A case for equity via @plthomasEdD https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/beware-grade-level-reading-and-the-cult-of-proficiency/
17. In the end, theres a chance that this young student has misinterpreted the teacher's otherwise good intentions of helping his or her students to find books that they would enjoy reading.
18. I'm even willing to bet that if the student's teacher was there, he or she would have encouraged her to try the book anyway, giving her the support and guidance needed to tackle a challenging book that she was genuinely interested in.
19. Because as educators, we want our students to hang out in bookstores for too long, to stay up too late under the covers reading with a flashlight, to get lost in a book long enough to completely lose track of time, we want our students to LOVE READING!
20. Hopefully this story can remind us all to put our students first. There is a lot more to reading than worrying about text complexity. Our focus must be on giving ALL students access to good books and building the skills and confidence to pick them up no matter the "level"
@MadForMaple some food for thought for you!
