High School Teacher Wonders If Telling Students What Grade Level They’re Reading At Is The ‘Reality Check’ They Need
Could this be the solution to the literacy crisis?
Drazen Zigic | Shutterstock The literacy crisis in this country, which is affecting many students, continues to be a problem for educators. Not only are students unable to read at their grade levels, but they are also struggling with basic comprehension, which is making it harder for them to succeed academically.
To solve the problem, or at least make sure students can become a bit more motivated and hopefully make them aware of how much their performance needs to improve, a high school teacher named Amber Marie claimed that educators should be clueing their students into their reading levels. She pointed out that the blunt revelation could be helpful to those who genuinely want to learn and improve.
A teacher wondered if telling students what grade level they're reading at is the 'reality check' they need.
"I haven't done this at all yet, but I'm starting to think that we need to be more straightforward with students about their progress and where they're at academically," Marie began in her TikTok video. "I don't mean giving them feedback on their assignments. I think they should know what grade level they're performing at."
Marie explained that she's not exactly sure what that would look like and is hesitant to start doing this because she doesn't want to make her students start to feel bad about themselves and their intelligence. She pointed out that teachers never want to discourage students from doing well by pointing out their deficits, but she insisted that it could end up being a reality check for some.
"It's like, 'Hey, you're in high school, but it looks like you're reading at a fifth-grade level.' I think some students need that in order to push themselves to actually try in school," Marie continued. "The literacy crisis in America is so real that it's scary. Anytime I think about it, my heart starts beating faster."
A majority of students in this country are below average when it comes to their reading levels.
According to a national education report released by Axios, U.S. students had record-low reading comprehension scores last year. The average reading score for both fourth and eighth graders in 2024 was two points lower than in 2022 and five points lower than in 2019.
"Not only did most students not recover from pandemic-related learning loss, but those students who were the most behind and needed the most support have fallen even further behind," the U.S. Department of Education said in a statement.
While experts aren't sure why so many kids have stopped reading and aren't progressing as they should, the trend coincides with the rise of smartphones and social media, according to Ebony Walton, a statistician at the National Center for Education Statistics, in an interview with Vox.
Other theories are the drastic funding cuts to libraries and an excessive focus on standardized testing that has replaced kids actually having a love for reading.
The teacher pointed out that it's both kids and adults who are reading below their required level.
"The amount of adults, not even high schoolers, the amount of adults that are reading below a fifth-grade level is insane," Marie insisted, pointing out that the National Literacy Institute found that 54% of adults are reading below a sixth-grade level. "That's more than half of adults. Most people don't know that."
Marie claimed that she's a little bit torn on what to do to address the literacy issues with her students because she doesn't want to discourage them or make them feel discouraged, but it deserves to be addressed in some capacity.
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"I think that's a reality check that might get them to start reading, to start caring, or to start trying," she said. Marie explained that if she were to implement it, she would have her students take an online literacy test at the beginning of the year that would tell them what grade level they're reading at. Then, have a conversation with the entire class about why literacy is important and give some tips they can use when they're at home.
It's clear that not only does Marie care about her students, but she's also trying her best to combat the raging literacy crisis that is happening amongst kids. They won't be able to succeed in the world if they're unable to read, and maybe helpfully nudging them toward realizing that might be the thing that could turn it around for them.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.