reading-instruction
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- NewsEdSurge22 Jul 2026
We Must Stop Using AI to ‘Level-Down’ Our Students
This article argues that using AI to simplify texts for students, a practice known as text leveling, reduces the richness of literature and prevents students from engaging in effortful thinking. Instead, teachers should scaffold access to complex texts rather than dumbing them down. The author cautions against the temptation of AI shortcuts in education.
Original abstract
<p>No one would remember the line, “Keep being good and special, Ponyboy. Don’t change.” It just doesn’t hit the same as <a href="https://www.sehinton.com/"><u>S.E. Hinton’s</u></a> classic line, “Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.” </p><p>Many English teachers, myself included, would consider it an atrocity to diminish this canonical line in literary history to such sterile and lifeless simplicity. Students deserve a better reading experience than that. Yet this is just what happens when teachers decide to level a text down to a student’s “instructional level” rather than scaffolding up their access to a complex text. </p><p>In my own district, just two years ago, educators raved about a new AI tool that helps teachers level text and encouraged the department to spend thousands of dollars on it. When I first heard about it, I admit, I was dazzled. The most time-consuming and work-intensive part of teaching for me has always been differentiating for the small percentage of kids who just don’t get it the first, second, or even third time you teach something. </p><p>This program was going to do it all for me, but the caveat was that it would also do all the thinking for the kids. When we keep kids from actually doing work that requires effortful thinking, they don’t learn anything at all. </p><p>While <a href="https://www.thereadingleague.org/compass/policymakers-and-state-education-agencies/"><u>many states</u></a> are passing legislation that focuses on the Science of Reading, moving districts away from programs that promote text leveling, many edtech companies are promoting this practice through their newest AI models. In our world of quick and snappy AI solutions, the leveled text shortcut is all too easy to take, but we should not give in to temptation. </p><h2>The History of Text Leveling</h2><p>The practice of teaching students at their “instructional” level has a long, storied history leading back to the founding colonies. If that sort of history interests you, I
- PaperDOAJ — ELT & TESOL1 Jul 2026
The impact of professional development on EFL teachers' literacy practices and self-efficacy
Janina Kahn-Horwitz, Tziona Levi, Arona Korman Gvaryahu, Susie Russak
An annual 60-hour professional development program focused on strengthening EFL teachers' knowledge of basic language constructs for literacy instruction. Participating teachers reported significantly greater confidence in using differentiated instruction and higher self-efficacy for teaching reading to students with diverse needs compared to non-participants.
Original abstract
Abstract The present study examined the impact of participation in an annual 60-h national in-service program called Building Blocks (BB), focusing on strengthening teacher knowledge of basic language constructs for teaching literacy in English as a foreign language (EFL). We employed an online questionnaire developed to evaluate teachers’ beliefs and self-reported practices regarding the teaching of reading and writing amongst 50 teachers who had participated in the BB program and 150 teachers who had not. Results using Mann–Whitney nonparametric tests and ordinal regressions indicated that BB participants reported greater confidence in using differentiated instruction methods for teaching literacy to children from diverse backgrounds than non-BB teachers (z = -2.83, p = 0.005). The BB participants also reported greater self-efficacy for teaching reading to students with diverse needs with higher frequency levels than non-BB teachers (z = -3.10, p = 0.002). These findings are significant because in order to differentiate instruction and teach students with diverse needs, a teacher must possess a particular skill set that includes awareness of different English ability levels and knowledge about how to match instructional methods to individual student literacy needs. The current results highlight the potential of participation in a professional development program focusing on literacy acquisition for EFL teachers.