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Route2Reading

Are Reading Levels Holding Students Back? with Tim Shanahan

Sep 21, 2026 · 48 min · 10 segments

For years, teachers have been told to **meet students where they are**—find their instructional reading level, put them in a just-right text, and group them with other students reading at a similar…

For years, teachers have been told to **meet students where they are**—find their instructional reading level, put them in a just-right text, and group them with other students reading at a similar level. But what if that approach is actually limiting how much students can learn? In this episode of **Route2Reading**, I sit down with literacy researcher and author **Dr. Tim Shanahan** to talk about reading levels, small-group instruction, grade-level text, and what the research actually tells us about supporting struggling readers. Tim brings nearly 60 years of experience in reading education to this conversation—as a classroom teacher, reading specialist, professor, researcher, and former Director of Reading for Chicago Public Schools. CLICK HERE FOR FULL SHOW NOTES

For years, teachers have been told to **meet students where they are**—find their instructional reading level, put them in a just-right text, and group them with other students reading at a similar…

Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube Website

Speakers: Tim ShanahanGuestAmy BurkholderHost

Top entities: Timothy Shanahan×23 Chicago Public Schools×3 Reading×7 Course Common Core×2

Show signals: SuitabilitySafeBiasNot politicalAudience≈50k followers

Meeting Tim Shanahan1:00 – 2:49

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:00

Hey everyone, I have Tim Shanahan here with me.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:03

How are you today?

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:05

I'm doing great.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:06

How are you, Amy?

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:07

I'm good.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:08

I'm so glad that you are here.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:10

I'm going to start this podcast just to say my kids are still home.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:13

The dog's been barking all day.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:15

So if you hear it in the background, we're going to do the very best we can do.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:20

I'm so, so grateful that you have taken the time to be on the podcast with us today.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:25

And so let's just start.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:26

I'm sure that many of our listeners know who you are, but let's just start there.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:31

Give them a little background information on you, and then we'll get We'll get started.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:36

Sounds good.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:37

Sounds good.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:39

Uh, I am a retired professor at this point in my life.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:44

Um, I was a professor at the university of Illinois at Chicago for 33 years.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:51

Uh, before that I had been, uh, a, a primary grade teacher.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:57

I taught first grade.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:58

I taught third grade and I taught remedial reading.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:00

Of course, a lot of us have done, uh, and was a reading coach.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:06

Uh, But while I was a professor, I also took on duties as the director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, where I was responsible for 437,000 boys and girls.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:20

So I've been at this a very long time.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:25

In fact, I think I was figuring out the other day that it's almost 60 years that I've been studying reading and teaching reading.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:33

So I've been doing it a long time.

Timothy ShanahanPersonEducator and Researcher
93%23 mentions
Chicago Public SchoolsEntitySchool district
79%3 mentions
ReadingEntityLanguage writing system
64%7 mentions
CourseEntity
50%1 mention
Common CoreEntity
36%2 mentions
University of Illinois ChicagoCollege or UniversityPublic university in Chicago, Illinois
21%1 mention
EnglishEntitySpoken language
7%1 mention

Scaffolding TechniquesEducation > Teaching Methods > Reading Instruction > Small Group Instruction
Instructional Reading LevelEducation > Literacy > Reading Levels
Phonics InstructionEducation > Literacy > Reading Levels > Instructional Reading Level
Differentiated InstructionEducation > Curriculum Development > Standards-Based Education > Common Core Standards
Reading ComprehensionEducation > Assessment > Student Assessment > Reading Assessment
Effective Instructional PracticesEducation > Teacher Training > Professional Development > Teaching Strategies
Reading LevelsEducation > Literacy
Teaching MethodsEducation
Teaching StrategiesEducation > Teacher Training > Professional Development
AssessmentEducation
Standards-Based EducationEducation > Curriculum Development
Student AssessmentEducation > Assessment
Common Core StandardsEducation > Curriculum Development > Standards-Based Education
Teacher TrainingEducation
LiteracyEducation
Curriculum DevelopmentEducation
Reading InstructionEducation > Teaching Methods
Professional DevelopmentEducation > Teacher Training
Reading AssessmentEducation > Assessment > Student Assessment
Education
Small Group InstructionEducation > Teaching Methods > Reading Instruction

Meeting Tim Shanahan1:00 – 2:49

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:00

Hey everyone, I have Tim Shanahan here with me.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:03

How are you today?

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:05

I'm doing great.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:06

How are you, Amy?

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:07

I'm good.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:08

I'm so glad that you are here.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:10

I'm going to start this podcast just to say my kids are still home.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:13

The dog's been barking all day.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:15

So if you hear it in the background, we're going to do the very best we can do.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:20

I'm so, so grateful that you have taken the time to be on the podcast with us today.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:25

And so let's just start.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:26

I'm sure that many of our listeners know who you are, but let's just start there.

A

Amy BurkholderHost

1:31

Give them a little background information on you, and then we'll get We'll get started.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:36

Sounds good.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:37

Sounds good.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:39

Uh, I am a retired professor at this point in my life.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:44

Um, I was a professor at the university of Illinois at Chicago for 33 years.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:51

Uh, before that I had been, uh, a, a primary grade teacher.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:57

I taught first grade.

Tim ShanahanGuest

1:58

I taught third grade and I taught remedial reading.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:00

Of course, a lot of us have done, uh, and was a reading coach.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:06

Uh, But while I was a professor, I also took on duties as the director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools, where I was responsible for 437,000 boys and girls.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:20

So I've been at this a very long time.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:25

In fact, I think I was figuring out the other day that it's almost 60 years that I've been studying reading and teaching reading.

Tim ShanahanGuest

2:33

So I've been doing it a long time.

What Radar found in this episode

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Clips

3 of 7

AHA MOMENT0:38
Harder Texts Create More Learning
Research reveals why easier books can hinder.
EMOTIONAL1:11
Students Want Grade-Level Text
Students may prefer challenging texts with support.
CONTROVERSIAL0:53
There Is No Instructional Level
There is no fixed match between readers.

+4 more clips · 6 min 45 sec of audio in all

Topics

7 of 21

Scaffolding Techniques
Instructional Reading Level
Phonics Instruction
Differentiated Instruction
Reading Comprehension
Effective Instructional Practices
Reading Levels
+14 more

Related episodes

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The Difficult Questions About Teaching ReadingThinking Deeply about Primary Education

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