Book Leveling and Reading

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the “leveling mania” that we have observed in schools, using findings of a mini-research study in which we assessed the uniformity and variability of texts purported to be at the same level for instructional or independent reading in primary classrooms. Specifically, we looked at book and print features, language and literary features, as well as gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status representation, criteria that fit with our views on reading as a relationship between readers and texts. Based on our findings, we make recommendations for appropriate use of leveled text in the classroom to support reading instruction.