Overview

An engaging and evidence-based examination of how reading instruction has been misinterpreted and misapplied for decades and how to right the course to improve reading skills for all students In Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives, leading literacy expert Timothy Shanahan curates a lively tour of the history of reading instruction in the United States, 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 US schools over the past five decades- and presents a compelling case for a new way forward that will bolster students' reading skills. 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 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.

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Reviews

""Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives is a powerful call for making challenging texts the cornerstone of an effective, inspiring education. Shanahan shows that asking more of our students--giving them the guidance and confidence to stretch their reading abilities--can break a half-century slump in literacy levels, finally delivering the progress our students deserve.""--David Coleman, CEO, College Board ""This book should achieve rare-air status. Through professional reflection and research interrogation, Shanahan offers a needed paradigmatic shift to shatter literacy hierarchies cemented by a longstanding misconception about text selection for struggling readers. Courage is needed to protect the literacy development and lives at heart of this remarkable book.""--Alfred W. Tatum, professor and executive director, Literacy Research Center and Clinic, Metropolitan State University of Denver ""This is an important book about an important topic. What level of text difficulty is best in reading instruction? Easy text, 'just right' text, or grade level text? With readable summaries of history and theory, Shanahan asks us to move from concerns about motivation and discipline to focus text selection on increasing learning.""--Sharon Walpole, professor, School of Education, University of Delaware

Author Information

Timothy Shanahan is distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He served as the director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, is the former president of the International Literacy Association, and served on the advisory board of the National Institute for Literacy under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2 7, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame.

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