How Are Kindergarten Reading Levels Determined?

Children develop at different rates, so don’t worry too much if your child is behind their peers. Too much pressure to catch up could actually have an adverse effect on their attitude toward reading.

Kindergarten students learn to recognize all lowercase and uppercase letters and their sounds. They also practice segmenting words into their component sounds.

Guided Reading Level (GRL)

A child’s reading level determines how well they can read books and what level of difficulty they should be reading at. Teachers use a variety of methods to measure a child’s reading level, including running records and the Fountas and Pinnell system. A run record is an assessment method that requires a teacher to sit a child down one-on-one and have them read a book at their grade level. The teacher then takes notes on their performance, counting errors and self-corrections. After the session, the teacher will choose books for the child that are appropriate for their reading level and grade.

The Fountas and Pinnell system, also called Guided Reading Level (GRL) or Grade Equivalents, is a popular standardized reading leveling system that is used in many schools. Developed by two Ohio State University professors, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, the system uses a letter based system that ranges from A to Z, with A being the easiest book. Many teachers will choose books that are either at the child’s GRL level or one below it to challenge them but not frustrate them.

Kindergarten	A – C
1st Grade	C – I
2nd Grade	I – M
3rd Grade	M – P
4th Grade	P – S
5th Grade	S – V
6th Grade	V – Y

Accelerated Reader (AR)

The AR program helps teachers monitor student reading comprehension through a computerized system. Students choose an AR book to read independently, then take a short multiple choice question test on the computer. The system scores the test and awards points to the student based on their performance. Those points are added to the student’s point goal for each quarter. When the goal is met the student earns a reward from the teacher. The program also allows teachers to identify struggling readers and give them individual attention to help them improve their reading skills.

Many school districts use the AR program, and it has become an integral part of classroom reading instruction. The software, developed by Renaissance Learning, is designed to encourage independent reading through a system of incentives and rewards. The AR program has its critics, however, who argue that the system levels books by vocabulary rather than by interest or maturity level. The result is that a child might read a low-level, boring book to reach an incentive when they could have enjoyed reading a high-level book.

Kindergarten	0.1 – 0.9
1st Grade	1.0 – 1.9
2nd Grade	2.0 – 2.9
3rd Grade	3.0 – 3.9
4th Grade	4.0 – 4.9
5th Grade	5.0 – 5.9
6th Grade	6.0 – 6.9

A student’s AR point goals are set based on their reading level as determined by the STAR test and are set for each quarter. They count towards both their Reading and Language Arts grade. Students who reach their AR goals with at least 85% accuracy by the cut-off date will receive an AR reward from the teacher.

To achieve a high score on an AR quiz, a student must know the vocabulary words in the book, understand the storyline and be able to answer questions from all parts of the book. The AR program also includes a feature called Readability that allows students to take the quizzes with the help of a tutor who will show them the questions they need to answer and read them to them.

Parents can find out how many points a particular book is worth on the AR website by entering the book title and author into the search field. Then they can find out if the book is available at their local library.

Development Reading Assessment (DRA)

The Developmental Reading Assessment, known as the DRA, measures students’ independent reading level, fluency and comprehension. Teachers use this information to guide their instruction and help students progress as readers. A student’s DRA score may show up on her report card. Parents can use the DRA web site to find appropriately-leveled books for their children.

This assessment assesses a child’s phonological awareness, phonics skills and word analysis, which determines the ability to recognize letter-sound correspondence, rhyming, segmenting and general phonemic awareness. It also evaluates a child’s alphabetical knowledge. During the DRA, students read a passage aloud and are asked to respond to questions about it. This assessment is administered by a teacher or trained rater.

Kindergarten	A – 4
1st Grade	4 – 16
2nd Grade	16 – 24
3rd Grade	24 – 38
4th Grade	38 – 40
5th Grade	40 – 50
6th Grade	50 – 60
7th & 8th Grade	60 – 80

To administer a DRA, a teacher meets with each student in a one-on-one setting and asks the child to read the passage aloud, answer questions about it and retell the story. This is a performance-based assessment in which the student is expected to respond without assistance. Teachers will take notes and tally errors during the DRA conference to help determine a child’s reading level, which range from A1 to 80.

The DRA is designed to determine a student’s instructional reading level, which is what she should be learning to read. According to the National Institute of Education, this assessment correlates with classroom-based assessments and is a good indicator of a student’s reading ability.

Teachers will look at the number of errors made when assessing a child’s fluency and accuracy levels, as well as note how many times a child had to stop to ask a question. Then the teacher will make notes on the summary form to indicate which aspects of the child’s oral reading were most effective, such as expression, phrasing and rate.

Teachers should keep in mind that the DRA takes ten to 20 minutes to administer, so they must incorporate it into their class schedules. It’s important to give this assessment in a way that minimizes student stress and distractions. Try assessing students during their independent reading time, so they don’t feel like they are being tested.

Lexile Measurement Levels

The Lexile Framework puts reading ability and text complexity on the same developmental scale. When used together, they help educators match students with books that will challenge them but not overwhelm them or bore them. Students get their Lexile measures by taking school-administered assessments that report a Lexile measure or standardized tests that convert to a Lexile measure. Teachers and parents can also find a student’s Lexile measure on Scholastic’s web site through its Kids Discover library.

A Lexile reader measure describes a student’s reading ability, while a Lexile text measure describes the semantic and syntactic features of a book, article or other text. These measures are reported with a number followed by an “L” (for example, 770L). They are reported in intervals of five with 5L being the lowest Lexile reading level and 2000L being the highest.

Kindergarten	BR40L – 230L
1st Grade	BR120L – 295L
2nd Grade	107L – 545L
3rd Grade	415L – 760L
4th Grade	635L – 950L
5th Grade	770L – 1080L
6th Grade	855L – 1165L
7th Grade	925L +

Once a student has their Lexile reading measure, they can look for books that will be right for them by using a Quick Book Search within their school library or in the content catalog of online or software learning sources. The Quick Book Search will present a list of books with a Lexile text measure that is equal to or higher than the reading level indicated by their Lexile reader measure.

Alternatively, students can use the Lexile text analyzer to search for texts that match their current ability by entering in a reading passage and choosing the appropriate grade level and/or Lexile measure. The Lexile text analyzer will return a list of texts that are available to read, including the title and author of each.

The list will also show the text type, such as fiction, nonfiction or poetry, and if it is AD (adult directed), GH (high-low) or NC (non-conforming) or if it has cloze items which require the reader to replace missing words. The cloze items are presented within the context of the reading passage, which helps to keep students engaged without having to go back and forth between an answer page and the reading passage. This tool helps students understand how a text is constructed and can lead to increased comprehension.