Jan, The terms independent level and instructional level (and frustration level) have to do with the accuracy rate of a reader. At the independent level, a reader is reading with an accuracy rate above 95%. With that high an accuracy rate, it is thought that they can most likely comprehend what they are reading without assistance. If a reader is reading at 90-95% accuracy, that is considered instructional because they need a stronger reader (or teacher) to help them comprehend the text, since they are missing up to 1 out of 10 words, on average. Frustration level is below 90% accuracy, and it is unlikely that the reader can make sense of that text.
These levels are often derived from QRI or Fountas and Pinnell leveled texts. Using those texts (or really any other texts that are "graded", for example a 3rd grade text, 5th gr text, etc) one can determine a student's independent and instructional level so you know what to have them read independently, and what to read with them in a guided reading setting. Generally the texts are not too lengthy, but are slightly longer than one could expect a student to read in a minute or two, so you can also gauge words per minute. You start with your best guess as to independent level and then work forward or backward. So, you may guess a 3rd grader is reading at grade level, so you have them read a third grade text. If it turns out that they are reading with 100% accuracy you might want to try a 4th grade text and see what happens there. You may find they are still independent at 4th grade. Try a 5th grade text and their accuracy may drop to 92% and you have then determined their independent (4th gr) and instructional level 5th gr). Sometimes it works in reverse, and you have to go to lower level texts to get to an independent level, because your best guess might turn out to be frustration level. It is a somewhat time consuming process, but yields a lot of information, especially if you analyze any errors they make (miscue analysis). There are other ways to help you make guesses, including DIBELS (based on fluency) and word lists (based on decoding ability and word recognition) but nothing is as thorough as having the students read for you. Hope that helps! Carol Mc Reading/ESL Specialist NY >________________________________ >From: "wr...@centurytel.net" <wr...@centurytel.net> >To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group ><mosaic@literacyworkshop.org> >Sent: Saturday, October 1, 2011 3:41 PM >Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Reader's Workshop Research > >Hi Beverlee, >What is DEAR? > >And what is the difference between independent level and high instructional >level? The names make them sound very different. >Although my school gives various reading tests, we do not test for reading >level. Can anyone suggest a test I can use in the classroom for reading level >so that I can determine what texts are right for my students? >Jan > > >Quoting "beverleep...@gmail.com" <beverleep...@gmail.com>: >> And the other thing we'd do well to remember is the crucial piece in his >> work reminding us that the material used absolutely needs to be at an >> independent/high instructional level >> in order for the child to continue to grow as a reader. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
