Science of Reading Literacy Hub

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Somewhere along the way, reading failure became normalized.

Children being years behind became normal.

“Wait and see” became normal.

Parents asking hard questions became the problem.

It should be the other way around.

The problem is not parents demanding literacy.

The problem is a system that has become comfortable with too many children struggling to read.

New curriculum review/navigation report

A new Curriculum Navigation Report (CNR) is now available on The Reading League Compass—Amplify CKLA 3rd Edition (2025)!

The CNRs provide impartial insights that support schools, districts, and states in making informed decisions about instructional materials.

🔗 Access the free Report: https://bit.ly/3PuvRfb

Find Reports for: Amplify CKLA (2nd Edition), Aprendo Leyendo, Benchmark Advance, Bluebonnet Learning, Bookworms, Collaborative Classroom, Expeditionary Learning (EL), Fishtank Learning, Foundations A-Z, Fundations, Into Reading, Into Reading Structured Literacy, MyView, 95 Phonics Core, Open Court, PAF Reading, Reading Horizons Discovery® (RHD), Reading Mastery, Really Great Reading, Superkids, UFLI Foundations, and Wonders.

Are you supposed to stop using leveled text? 🤔

Educators hear, “Don’t use leveled text,” and understandably wonder:

Then how should I choose text for small groups? For fluency? For instruction?

The confusion exists because people often use similar words for very different ideas.

💡 Leveled text isn’t the same thing as instructional level.

Leveled systems and Lexiles are mostly based on vocabulary and syntax. They don’t tell you whether a student can actually decode the text.

So instead of asking, “What level is this student?” we need to ask a better question:

❓ What is the instructional purpose of this text?

📘 If the instructional purpose is word recognition, students need text matched to the phonics skills they have actually been taught. That means text is controlled for decodability, even if it is below grade level.

📗 If students need heavy support to read the text, it is probably not a good fit for that lesson. Practice text should let them apply their skills successfully, not have them guess their way through or rely on you to carry it.

📣 Bottom Line: “Don’t use leveled text” doesn’t mean, “Don’t make text decisions based on student need.”

It means we need to make those decisions using the right variables.

Unlock my free PreK-12 Resource Library to get more plug-and-play educator support: https://www.stephaniestollar.com/prek-12/free-resources?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Post&utm_campaign=26_05_28_Research_Real_Talk

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