Instructional Reading Level

Please note: A select few districts have minor customizations. If you work at one of these districts, some of the information below may not apply. If you’re wondering whether your district has customized features, please reach out to [e-mail].

Before reading the below article: If you are seeking guidance on whether to reassess a student who has an estimated instructional level, please see Question 4 and 5 on this article.

In the Inst. Level column of your teacher dashboard, you will find each student's instructional level listed.

Definition:

A student's instructional reading level is defined as the highest level at which the student has scored >=90% accuracy and >=60% comprehension. Meeting this score threshold can also be considered "passing" the level.

• Note: If the student has not scored >=90% accuracy and >=60% comprehension at any level, then we define it as one level below the lowest level at which they've assessed.

Another way of understanding a student's instructional level is to think of it as the level where they can still read successfully but may need some assistance from a teacher and may, at times, feel “stretched” or challenged in their thinking.

Confirmed vs. Estimated () Instructional Level:

An instructional level on Literably is considered confirmed when:

• a student has passed a level on Literably and her latest leveling recommendation is either +0 or down to a level that she has already passed, or 
• a student passes level Z, or does not pass level A.

For students with an unconfirmed instructional level, Literably reports the estimated instructional level with a star (before October 2022, this was indicated with an asterisk *). These predictions are based on our expectations of where a student is likely to end up once she has completed her re-assessments. As an example, let’s take a look at Frodo Baggins in the sample dashboard below:

Frodo's instructional reading level as displayed on his dashboard is . Literably is estimating (or predicting) that Frodo's current instructional level is most likely P because he did quite well on his last assessment (Buzz and Bingo in the Starry Sky, at level N), scoring 99.2% in accuracy and 100% in comprehension. However, Literably will not be able to confirm this until Frodo actually assesses on a level P text. Until then, Literably has placed a star next to the level P.

If Frodo reassesses on a P-level text and receives a leveling recommendation of +0 (by scoring between 90-94% in accuracy at at least 3/5 in comprehension), the level will be confirmed, and the star will no longer appear next to the instructional level.

Floor:

Once a student reads a text above the instructional threshold at a particular level (e.g., a level M text), we will not move the student below that "floor" level (e.g., level M) for the rest of the school year (i.e., their instructional level and next assessment recommendation will not move below that floor).  

For more details about Literably's floor logic, click here.