Effects of Leveled Literacy Instruction

J.Taft 1

Effects of Leveled Literacy Instruction on Students

Jessica Taft
University of New England

Abstract
Leveled Literacy Instruction is a currently a hot topic button among educators around the United
States. There are varying opinions and ideas about best practice around leveled literacy
instruction and about the effects leveled literacy instruction has on students. Some educators
believe it is damaging to students to be leveled and associated with a letter or number while
others believe it is helpful to students and improves their overall reading abilities. This study will
look at both sides of the argument to develop a better understanding of the effects of leveled
literacy instruction.
Reader Identity and the Common Core: Agency and Identity in Leveled Reading
The main focus of this article is about how readers create their identity. Being that the common
core requires more rigorous texts to be used by teachers it is often difficult to reach students at
all levels, thus creating leveled reading groups. Leveled reading groups have positive and
negative effects on students. When using a leveled literacy instruction method incorrectly it can
negatively affect the reader's identity. Reader identity pertain to a sense of self that is ever
changing according to positions that are taken up or resisted (Abodeeb-Gentile 2013, p. 36).
For children their readers identity is a crucial part of being a student. Reading is social and
should be seen by educators as a social part of children's lives. Therefore how the student sees
themselves as a reader needs to be taken into consideration when considering the use of
leveled reading instruction, placing students in leveled reading groups can unknowingly shape

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their reader identities (Abodeeb-Gentile 2013, p. 36). Leveling readers can create an animosity
between teachers and students, as students can perceive their teachers thinks they are less
than equals to their peers. When leveling readers and using leveled reading groups it is
extremely important to keep in mind the social aspect of levels, letters and numbers. Students
do not wish to be seen as less than equal to their peers. From the perspective of literacy as
acquisition, the fact that the teachers controlled the text selections based on students
instructional levels directly affected the students ability to acquire particular capital within the
classroom Abodeeb-Gentile 2013, p. 39). Therefore, allowing students choice in the reading
material is key and will allow students to create, foster and protect their reader identities.
Leveled Text: The Good News and the Bad News
Leveled texts are helpful for teachers and their struggling readers as well as proficient readers.
Leveled texts allow struggling readers to succeed and progress with comfortable texts at the
same time they allow proficient readers to challenge themselves and continue to progress. Both
struggling readers and proficient readers are making progress and growing as readers. As with
all good there is bad. The bad that comes with leveled texts is that sometimes teachers get so
focused on moving students up levels that they forget to teach other important and crucial
aspects of being a reader. There are many ways in which text are leveled, often time depending
on the publishing company. When leveling texts first became popular there was a formulaic
view to leveling text, meaning a formula was used to determine the level of text and readability
by grade (Brabham, E. G. 2002, p. 439) . When this proved to be insufficient a comprehensive
view was created which was seen more as a concept not a formula (Brabham, E. G. 2002, p.
439). There is also a phonics emphasis as a way of text progression, which is a progression of
decodable text (Brabham, E. G. 2002 p 440). No matter the system used for leveling texts it
must be used properly by the educator. When not used carefully it can limit students and their
choice with reading material. The power of leveled texts is its potential to provide teachers with
tools and expertise for operating with greater freedom, flexibility, and insight as they select from
a wide array of texts to meet students instructional needs (Brabham, E. G. 2002, p. 440).
Investigating the Instructional Supportiveness of Leveled Texts
The main focus of this article was on the effectiveness of a specific program of leveled texts,
Reading Recovery. Extensive research was done to determine if the difficulty of the reading
materials increased when the level increased. With further reading this article proved to be the
least helpful in answering my questions 1. Does leveling students help or hinder progression
and growth? 2. What is the best way to set up a leveled library? 3. How does leveled reading
instruction affect motivation? None of these areas or questions were addressed, simply the level
of text complexity based on levels in the Reading Recovery program.
Teaching Flexibly with Leveled Texts: More Power for Your Reading Block

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The main focus of this article was flexibility and variety within the classroom. Using a whole
class novel is an okay option for teachers. In fact, students of all levels and abilities should be
exposed to higher level difficult texts. Teachers can scaffold in clever ways such as jigsaw
reading and grouping without tracking. Grouping Without Tracking is a whole class lesson, then
split into two groups, one group is working independently and the other is working more closely
with and supported by the teacher, both groups then come back together to conclude the
lesson. When leveling and grouping students it can be done more based on need and less on
level, most likely students in the same band of levels will have similar needs anyway.
Remember that in real life, readers read all kinds of things. A teacher who thoughtful uses a
variety of texts with varying degrees of difficulty is more likely to find engaging texts to put into
the hands of children so that they can see themselves as readers (Glasswell, K., & Ford, M. P.
2010, p. 59). Allowing choice in reading material and ensuring there are multiple levels of
content area books as well as a variety of types of texts will allow for more student success.

Leaving Levels and Moving to Real Reading

This article was short and simple but addressed many of questions and was the most helpful.
The common theme was once again addressed in this article, allowing readers little choice and
requiring them to read in only certain levels does not foster a love for reading it in fact has the
opposite effect. For example, requiring students to read only from a certain level can cause
them to not only lose interest in reading because they have little or no choice in what they read
but can also lead them to see reading a slacking relevance and significance in their lives
(McKee, S., & Torp, K. 2011, p. 32). Peer recommendations for books is a great way to not only
foster a love for reading and the social aspect of reading but it takes away the pressure of a
teacher recommended book, students love to hear from their peers. When it comes to
organizing a library space, libraries should be organized not my level but rather by genre, author
and current interests with the level of the book easy for adults to find by not blatantly obvious for
students.
Methodology
I began with three research questions, 1. Does leveling students help or hinder progression and
growth? 2. What is the best way to set up a leveled library? 3. How does leveled reading
instruction affect motivation? When searching for my sources I wanted to ensure I had articles
written about the exact topic was interested in. I started with the library website, chose
education as my subject and started with Eric-EBSCO. I also used ProQuest as I wanted a
variety of sources. On both sites I searched leveled literacy instruction in the advanced search
bar with each word in its own box. I also searched leveled reading groups. I limited the search
to full text for both search engines. I then chose articles that were both in support and against
leveled literacy instruction.

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Conclusion
I feel I have a better understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of a leveled reading
system. To answer my question, what is the best way to set up a leveled library? I found the
last of my articles the most helpful, it provided a clear answer about the way they see most fit for
leveling a library. I am more confident in the way in which I wish to proceed using a leveled
reading system in my classroom and feel I have a better understanding about best practice
surrounding this idea. While there is still not a concrete answer to my question, does leveling
students help or hinder progression and growth? I feel I have seen arguments for both sides
and both of which generally conclude that used properly growth will happen with readers of all
abilities using a leveled reading system. As far as motivation, when students are given choice in
their reading materials they are more motivated to read.

Reference List
Abodeeb-Gentile, T., & Zawilinski, L. (2013). Reader Identity and the Common Core: Agency
and Identity in Leveled Reading. Language And Literacy Spectrum, 2334-45.
Brabham, E. G., & Villaume, S. K. (2002). Leveled Text: The Good News and the Bad News.
Reading Teacher, 55(5), 438-41
Cunningham, J. W., Spadorcia, S. A., Erickson, K. A., Koppenhaver, D. A., Sturm, J. M., &
Yoder, D. E. (2005). Investigating the Instructional Supportiveness of Leveled Texts. Reading
Research Quarterly, 40(4), 410-427.
Glasswell, K., & Ford, M. P. (2010). Teaching Flexibly with Leveled Texts: More Power for Your
Reading Block. Reading Teacher, 64(1), 57-60.
McKee, S., & Torp, K. (2011). Leaving levels and moving to real reading. School Library
Monthly, 27(8), 31-33.)