Opinion: Researcher Criticizes Simplified Approach to Teaching Reading in New Book

Many educators believe children learn best when introduced gradually to increasingly complex reading material. Yet, in his new book Leveled Reading: Leveled Lives, researcher Tim Shanahan contends that current literacy practices in U.S. classrooms progress far too slowly. He argues that shielding students from challenging texts keeps them stuck in a cycle with little opportunity for growth.

Shanahan, former director of reading for Chicago Public Schools and a member of the National Reading Panel, is also the author of the Shanahan on Literacy blog. His book critically examines the leveled reading approach, highlighting several key issues.

Historical Perspective on Reading Instruction

The book begins with an extensive overview of how reading has been taught in America. From family Bibles in the 18th century to McGuffeys Readers in the 19th-century one-room schoolhouses, and the grade-level structures introduced in the early 20th century, reading materials for students have steadily become simpler. By the 1950s, leveled readers emerged, aiming to match children with texts suited to their instructional level. The Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading program, popularized recently through investigative work such as Emily Hanfords Sold a Story podcast, exemplifies this approach, sorting books and students along an A-to-Z continuum.

The Problem with Level Placement

Shanahan criticizes how students are placed into reading levels. Teachers typically listen to students read aloud, count correct words, and ask comprehension questions. While these steps seem reasonable, problems arise from over-reliance on precision in placement. Students are often assigned texts they can already read with 9095% accuracy, understanding roughly 75% of the content. Shanahan emphasizes that starting lessons with overly readable texts hinders learning. Success comes from assigning challenging texts and ensuring students can understand them by the end of the lesson.

Just Right Levels May Be Misleading

Educational frameworks often encourage scaffolding, introducing material gradually within a students zone of proximal development. However, labeling a book as just right can be misleading, as comprehension depends on prior knowledge, interest, and text characteristics like vocabulary and sentence complexity. Assessments meant to measure reading levels, such as the Benchmark Assessment System, have been shown to be unreliable. Shanahan notes that a fourth grader could be placed anywhere from grade 2 to 6 levels, making such measures ineffective for instruction.

Grade-Level Texts as a Better Strategy

Instead of focusing on leveling, Shanahan advocates for exposing students to grade-level texts. Teachers can support students through pre-teaching vocabulary, dividing texts into manageable segments, and encouraging re-reading. Encountering challenging material helps develop essential literacy skills: slowing down, making inferences, breaking down unfamiliar words, and self-correcting comprehension errors. Leveled texts often fail to provide these learning opportunities.

Motivation and Challenge

Concerns about student motivation have fueled leveled reading programs, fearing that difficult texts may discourage learners. Shanahan points out that motivation can also arise from interest, relevance, novelty, and the satisfaction of mastering a tough text. Beginning with a challenging passage and guiding students toward fluency fosters both achievement and engagement. Assigning below-grade-level materials essentially holds students back without formal documentation.

Long-Term Impact on Learning

Struggling readers who only encounter simplified texts may never gain access to advanced content, vocabulary, or grammar, leaving them behind peers. Shanahan emphasizes that leveled reading is well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive. He offers practical strategies for teachers to integrate grade-level texts effectively and notes that policy efforts, like Common Core standards, often fail when teachers revert to easier instructional texts due to entrenched school norms.

Reading as a Tool for Learning

Finally, Shanahan reminds readers that literacy should not be treated as a standalone skill. Reading is a tool to acquire knowledge across subjects. Students need exposure to appropriately challenging texts to use reading as a means to learn about the world, rather than simply a skill to practice.

Author: Sophia Brooks