Reply to Why is there no levelling for middle school English/ELA (is there a backstory?), and is that possible to change?

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Reply to "Why is there no levelling for middle school English/ELA (is there a backstory?), and is that possible to change?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
[quote]Do you have any examples of books kids are reading in 9th grade English?[/quote]

Texts are listed here:

[url]https://docs.google.com/document/d/14XsG7HxnXcr5tO7u7HpE7I28XTur-dKuQmAkJ1T0z_I/edit[/url][/quote]

Thanks! That looks pretty typical to me (e.g. Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men)... so not too bad? But certainly not "advanced"; probably at least 25% of MCPS 9th graders would be up for more.[/quote]

Not even at grade level, and not typical. Look at MP1. There are two books with lexile levels HL made for struggling readers who need low lexiles and interesting content. One is a graphic novel (The Magic Fish - Lexile 400HL) and one is an easy book (All American Boys, Lexile 770HL). Then there is a classic, much harder book, whic is actually at grade level, A Separate Peace (Lexile 1030L). Yet teachers are not actually choosing the challenging, grade-level text. They are going with the much easier options. In an honors course.

It's ridiculous but not surprising in MCPS.

BTW here is what Lexile says about HL books:

A text designated as "HL" has a Lexile measure much lower than the average reading ability of the intended age range of its readers. Librarians and booksellers sometimes refer to young adult books with disproportionately low Lexile measures as "high-low" books, meaning "high-interest" plus "low-readability." These books receive an HL code. Often fiction, HL books are useful when matching older (grade 7 and beyond) struggling or reluctant readers with text at both an appropriate difficulty level and an appropriate developmental level. Despite their short sentences and basic vocabulary, HL books are designed to appeal to readers at a more mature developmental level. [/quote]

Yeah, I'd agree... if teachers are choosing to not even assign A Separate Peace, or Of Mice and Men, or R&J, and instead using only the lower-level books, then they're probably teaching to the bottom 25-30% of the class, leaving a majority of students with a course that isn't meeting them at their level.[/quote]

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