“Making sure the books check every box”: Preservice teachers learning to select texts for reading instruction

    by  |  April 2, 2025

    Preservice teachers learning what makes a text complex

    Article: Lammert, C., Hiebert, E. H., & DeJulio, S. (2024). “Making sure the books check every box”: Preservice teachers learning to select texts for reading instruction. Literacy Research and Instruction. [Ahead of Print]

    Full text of article: https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2024.2390830

    Purpose

    To be prepared to teach reading, teachers must learn what makes a text complex: how text features contribute to text complexity. They must also learn how to locate and select appropriate texts for various pedagogies and know how to differentiate based on individual readers’ needs and interests. “Making sure the books check every box” is an empirical study in which the authors examined how one teacher education program builds teacher candidate knowledge of these topics.

    Findings

    Even novice teachers recognize that texts are central to reading. They are eager to learn more about how to select appropriate materials for teaching and can benefit from the support of experienced teachers. In part, this is because teachers who know more about text complexity can consider multiple factors when selecting texts for teaching reading, which ultimately improves their text selections. Considering multiple factors is difficult work. Teacher education programs can support teacher candidates by providing real-world experiences involving selecting texts for elementary students.

    In this study, teacher candidates also grew more critical of text leveling systems as their knowledge of text complexity grew. Some teacher candidates recognized that restricting students to books at their instructional level prohibited them from content-rich and vocabulary-rich texts from which they may have benefitted.

    Applications

    • Teachers, including novices and veterans, should review their classroom libraries often to ensure they have a variety of text types at various levels of text complexity.
    • When lesson planning, teachers should allocate sufficient time for text selection. The process of intentionally choosing a text is central to teaching reading.
    • When veteran teachers work with novice teachers, they can support them by modeling aloud their thinking about text selection. Consider sharing your answers to questions such as “What am I choosing from?” “Why is this text the best fit?” and “What alternatives exist?”
    • Leveling systems can indicate certain characteristics of texts, but teachers should also apply their own professional knowledge when making text selections.

    Text Complexity Modules: Learn what makes a text complex

    In these modules, Elfrieda H. (Freddy) Hiebert walks through key topics on text complexity, including its definition, how quantitative measures of text complexity are useful (and what other information is needed), why text complexity matters for beginning readers, and more. This resource is perfect for PLCs, professional development, or preservice teachers.