Science of Reading: The Podcast Leveled reading, leveled lives, with Tim Shanahan, Ph.D.
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Jul 30, 2025 Tim Shanahan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus and a renowned literacy expert, delves into his book, 'Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives.' He challenges the effectiveness of leveled reading, arguing it often holds students back rather than helping them. Shanahan advocates for explicit instruction and practical strategies teachers can implement to enhance reading outcomes. He highlights the importance of tackling complex sentence structures for better comprehension and stresses the need for a comprehensive approach to literacy that addresses diverse student needs.
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Misuse of Instructional Level Theory
- The idea of matching children with instructional level texts is based on outdated and misused theories from psychology.
- Vygotsky's zone of proximal development theory, often cited, actually supports teaching challenging texts with support rather than easing difficulty.
Leveled Reading Holds Students Back
- Research consistently shows teaching at instructional levels does not improve, and may impede, reading progress.
- Precise measurement of text difficulty and student ability is difficult, and reducing instruction time for small leveled groups weakens learning.
Shanahan's Personal Teaching Reflection
- Tim Shanahan shares that he himself practiced leveled reading with his students early in his career.
- He realizes now that despite good intentions, this approach was part of the problem.
