What Parents of Hearing Impaired Students Need to Know About Student Reading Levels

Most parents of hearing impaired students gauge their child's progress in reading by comparing the child's reported reading level from year to year. Parents become concerned when the child's reading level does not increase as fast as they believe it should. Increasingly, teachers and administrators are becoming reluctant to report reading levels to parents of hearing impaired students. This reluctance is based in part on accumulated research which suggests that reading levels computed on reading tests developed for hearing students may vary considerably depending on the test used. This article summarizes some of the research in this area and suggests ways in which parents can evaluate their child's rate of progress in reading besides using reading levels.