Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives: How Students’ Reading Achievement Has Been Held Back and What We Can Do About It

Today it’s not uncommon to find students in a fourth-grade classroom reading books suitable for third-, second-, or even first-graders. Teachers suggest books to students at their deemed “instructional levels,” but how these instructional levels are determined is suspect. With a comprehensive, critical analysis of instructional-level pedagogy, Shanahan exposes its shaky foundations and shows how faulty research findings have become so entrenched. He gathers an extensive body of research studies that overwhelmingly contradict the instructional-level theory and offers an evidence-based consideration of how educators must instead use grade-level reading to bring about maximum learning gains. This seminal book concludes with practical advice for implementing grade-level reading instruction, including detailed descriptions of the types of instruction and scaffolding needed to increase students’ reading achievement, from teaching decoding and challenging texts to scaffolding reading to maintaining motivation. Shanahan asserts that a better approach can ensure that all students have an opportunity to leave high school with reading abilities commensurate with their personal, social, civic, and economic goals.

Other books by this author

This volume reports the findings of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. The formal charge to the panel — a distinguished group of expert researchers in reading, language, bilingualism, research methods, and education — was to identify, assess, and synthesize research on the education of language-minority children and youth with respect to their attainment of literacy.

Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth

Timothy Shanahan, Diane August

Age Level:

Adult

Genre:

Nonfiction

What are today’s best practices in early literacy instruction — and what should schools and programs focus on in the near future? More than 20 experts in early literacy research explore the answers in this essential volume for program directors, administrators, and curriculum developers. Using the landmark National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) Report (opens in a new window) as a starting point, this accessible book breaks the report down into key takeaways, recommends future directions in policy and practice, and tackles emerging issues and new research not addressed in the NELP report.

Early Childhood Literacy: The National Early Literacy Panel and Beyond

Timothy Shanahan, Christopher Lonigan

Age Level:

Adult

Leading literacy expert Timothy Shanahan curates a lively tour of the history of reading instruction in the U.S., arguing that the most popular reading instruction method is failing students and suppressing their literacy achievement. He breaks down the reasons why teachers and researchers alike have favored this accepted wisdom, known as instructional-level theory, in U.S. schools over the past five decades — and presents a compelling case for a new way forward that will bolster students’ reading skills.The book offers practical advice for implementing grade-level reading instruction, including detailed descriptions of the types of instruction and scaffolding needed to increase students’ reading achievement, from teaching decoding and challenging texts to scaffolding reading to maintaining motivation. Shanahan asserts that a better approach can ensure that all students have an opportunity to leave high school with reading abilities commensurate with their personal, social, civic, and economic goals.