Can the instructional and estimated independent levels be the same for a student?

In some cases, it is possible for the instructional level and estimated independent levels listed on the teacher dashboard to be identical for a student:

There are a few situations in which this might occur:

1. A beginning reader has only assessed on level A texts and has met the instructional level criteria for level A. Literably will estimate the student’s independent level to be A as well.
2. A reader has met both the instructional and independent level thresholds for a level Z text.
3. A reader has met both the instructional and independent level thresholds for a certain level, but:
   • Her score is not so high that Literably would estimate her instructional level one level higher. (Usually, Literably will not estimate the level up when a student has scored between 95-97% in accuracy and 60-80% in comprehension.)
   • Or, she has attempted an assessment at the next level but not met the instructional or independent level threshold at that level.

Literably will always make its best effort to determine a student's levels. Sometimes, however, Literably has to make a "best guess" based on the data available. For example, let's take a look at these assessment results from "Hermione Granger": 

Hermione's scores on "At the Beach (C)" are in the independent level range (>=95% accuracy and =>60% comprehension). We could infer from this that her instructional level might be D; however, until she reads a level D text and scores in the instructional range (>=90% accuracy and =>60% comprehension), we cannot know this for certain, especially since her scores are on the lower end of the independent range. In this case, Literably will estimate her instructional level conservatively, and she will have C as both her instructional and independent level on the teacher dashboard:

If you are ever surprised by a result on Literably, you can always reassess the student to collect more information, which will provide Literably with more data to determine a student's levels.