Article Annotation: Let's Start Leveling About Leveling

Ford, M. & Glasswell, K. (2011).  Let's Start Leveling About Leveling. Language Arts. Vol. 88. No. 3

I chose this article for annotation because after reading Allington's What Really Matters in Response to Intervention, I became interested in learning more about the process of matching readers to level appropriate text so that struggling or reluctant readers are paired with classroom texts appropriate to their level of reading development.  According to Allington, "the most powerful intervention designs begin by focusing on the match between the student and curriculum material, all day long (p. 34).  The goal of this article is to propose a revised way of thinking about leveled reading in a manner that promotes a wider and more flexible view of teacher decision-making about the use of leveled texts in the classroom (Ford and Glasswell, 2011).  One key point made in this article components of this article is that the focus on leveling is not about limiting reader choice, but rather, leveling is most effective when teachers make sure that all reading materials across the curricula is accessible to the reader, so he or she is able to make meaning of text.   "At the heart of leveling systems in an important, good idea that it is crucial in helping all readers become increasingly more competent and confident"(p. 208).

The Rights of the Reader

This semester, I'm taking EDRL 521A  again as a graduate assistant.  One of the recurring themes of the course is the idea that when a rigid methodology of instruction is used in the same way, for all students, it can have negative impact on the success of the learner.  It's important to use be open-minded and use flexibility and creativity with lesson planning and literacy (or any form of) instruction.  Our course instructor practices leveled reading in her classroom, with the intention that her students are supported in becoming increasingly competent and confident as readers, but occasionally a student approaches her with a desire to read a book that is a struggle to read on their own.  Rather than depriving him of the book, she works with him to develop a plan such as buddy reading it with an older or more fluent reader, or allowing him to listen to it read through an audio recording of the text while he follows along in his book.  Then, he will engage in reader response in writing to demonstrate his understanding, making text to life connections. 

On the first day of class, our department chair said to a room full of teachers, "It is your responsibility to teach kids that reading is a human right.  If they don't understand something, they should demand a way to help them understand."  This puts the intention of literacy instruction/ development on meaning-making, and the focus stays on the reader rather than the material.  This article points out that it is also the right of the reader be actively involved in selecting their own text, then guided through the process of going through a leveling assessment process together, with the instructor via miscue analysis to identify reading strengths and challenges, because if meaning-making is the focus of reading, retell accuracy is the most authentic form of leveling analysis.  Most importantly, the readers are in charge of their own learning.

Books are Just Books in the End

In many classrooms, decisions about text levels may impact multiple aspects of reading programs.  Grade level anthology readers are widely used during guided-reading or small group reading instruction, which can be viewed critically with respect to leveling material for individual readers.  But at heart of the matter, teacher's professional judgment still remains the most critical factor in planning and implementing a reading program (p. 209).  While it's easy to be critical of certain materials of instructional programs, what matters more is the way they are used that determines their potential impact on successful instruction.  In the end, when working to match text to readers, the goal of leveling is more a matter of determining reading needs of the reader as an individual than it is about determining a quantitative level identified through a complex testing system of calculating words he or she can decode with fluency.