Learn about the criteria used by the Learning A-Z Text Leveling System to determine book levels. Determine where to start students in Learning A-Z's levels and how our levels correlate to other systems.
Our Leveling Criteria
The Learning A-Z Text Leveling System's leveling criteria accurately and reliably measures text complexity to support differentiated instruction.
Our Text Leveling System follows the guidelines for determining text complexity outlined in national and state standards. The Standards call for an evaluation of student reading materials in three areas of text complexity:
qualitative measures, quantitative measures, and reader and task considerations.
Qualitative measures are text attributes that can only be evaluated by a human reader. These include factors such as the author's purpose, the levels of meaning, structure of the text, language conventions, language clarity, knowledge demands, and the complexity and importance of visual devices.
The Text Leveling System takes into account the following qualitative measures:
Predictability of text
Text structure and organization
Logical nature of organization
Text and feature distractions
Labeling and reader supports
Illustration support
Infographics
Complexity
Text reliance on
Knowledge demands
Concept load
Familiarity of topic (common everyday vs. unfamiliar)
Single vs. multi-themed
Intertextual dependence
Quantitative Measures
Quantitative measures are statistical measurements of text. These include factors such as average sentence length, number of syllables per word, and the total number of different words.
The Text Leveling System takes into account the following quantitative measures:
Total word count
Number of different words
Ratio of different words to total words
Number of high frequency words
Ratio of high frequency words to total words
Number of low frequency words
Ratio of low frequency words to total words
Sentence length
Sentence complexity
Consideration of the reader and the reading task
Consideration of the reader and the reading task is the final component of text complexity as outlined in the Common Core Standards.
Each reader brings different skills, background, and motivation to the act of reading. For example, a student who is interested in the topic of a particular book is likely to bring more background knowledge to the reading task and to be more motivated to learn about the subject.
Reader and task considerations are something teachers must evaluate for themselves. No leveling system can encompass these considerations because they depend upon the circumstances of each student in relation to each particular book at the time of reading.
By evaluating the qualitative and quantitative criteria accurately and reliably, the Learning A-Z Text Leveling System frees teachers to focus their energy and attention where they are most needed–on the reader and task considerations that affect their individual students.
