Second Reading Level Analysis Shows that Many Petitioned Books are at a 3rd, 4th, or 5th Grade Reading Level
Sex and Profanity vs. Higher Quality Literature -- Which would you choose for your teen?
The following list shows the reading level of the books on the petition that contain a great deal of sex and profanity, as well as the reading level of the suggested replacements as determined by the Lexile Method. Research from Renaissance Learning produced a similar result.
The reading levels below are provided by a company called MetaMetrics whose Lexile Framework for Reading measures "reader ability and text difficulty. MetaMetrics' research and development efforts were initially funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)."
The following list shows the reading level assigned by the MetaMetrics company to the 14 books on the petition, asking the Blue Valley school district to replace these 14 books with higher quality literature such as the suggestions listed below.
The most important issue isn't the reading level of a single book. The key question is this: Why does Blue Valley insist on assigning so many books full of sex and other adult topics that are written at 4th and 5th grade reading levels?
The suggested replacements below are not listed in any particular order. Click here to see a list of high quality books that Blue Valley is currently keeping OUT of the curriculum by refusing to choose them for their "approved" list.
| Petitioned Books | Grade Assigned | Lexile Grade Level | Suggested Replacements | Lexile Grade Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All the Pretty Horses | 11 | 5th - 6th | The Count of Monte Cristo | 5th - 6th |
| Animal Dreams | 12 | 4th - 5th | David Copperfield | 7th - 8th - 9th |
| The Awakening | 11 | 6th - 7th | Don Quixote | 13th |
| The Bean Trees | 10 | 5th - 6th | The Good Earth | 13th |
| Beloved | 12 | 5th - 6th | Ivanhoe | 13th |
| Black Boy | 11 | 5th - 6th - 7th | The Last of the Mohicans | 13th |
| Fallen Angels | 12 | 3rd - 4th | The Mill on the Floss | 11th - 12th |
| Hot Zone | 12 | 6th - 7th - 8th | Moby Dick | 10th - 11th - 12th |
| I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings | 10 | 7th - 8th - 9th | The Narrative of Frederick Douglass | 8th - 9th |
| Lords of Discipline | 12 | 6th - 7th | One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich | 5th - 6th |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 11 | 9th - 10th - 11th - 12th | The Return of the Native | 6th - 7th - 8th |
| Song of Solomon | 11 | 5th - 6th | Robinson Crusoe | 13th |
| Stotan | 9 | 6th - 7th - 8th | Silas Marner | 13th |
| This Boy's Life | 12 | Not Rated | Treasure Island | 8th - 9th - 10th - 11th - 12th |
| Uncle Tom's Cabin | 6th - 7th - 8th - 9th | |||
| Other Blue Valley low quality, high profanity, and/or sexually provocative textbook choices: | ||||
| Bless Me Ultima | 9 | 4th - 5th | ||
| House On Mango Street | 9 | 5th - 6th | ||
| Boy's Life | 10 | 4th - 5th | ||
| Native Son | 12 | Not Rated | ||
| Rape Fantasies | 12 | Not Rated | ||
| Secret Life of Bees | 10 | 4th - 5th | ||