If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show.

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• Purpose: Readers will understand how the three cueing system is used to recognize words.

• Behavioral objective: After reading this chapter, the reader will throw a pie in the face of any clown who suggests that the three-cueing system (a) is a strategy, (b) is an approach to reading instruction, or (c) that it teaches students to guess at words.

The NAEP proficiency levels were arbitrarily defined (Bracey, 2008; Ravitch, 2012; Reinking, Hruby, & Risko, 2023). These levels should be interpreted with extreme caution (Vaulton, 2025). The National Center for Education Statistics website provides three reasons for this (NCES, 2025):

1. Proficiency levels are based on desired expectations. Meaning that these levels are aspirational not mathematical.

2. These proficiency levels are currently being used on a trial basis.

3. Further evidence is needed to determine if these proficiency levels are “reasonable, valid, and informative”.

If you’re looking for accessible, research-based information that slices through the endless loads of overly worded baloney, I would encourage you to subscribe to my free Substack, The Reading Instruction Show.

Substack: The Reading Instruction Show

https://thereadinginstructionshow.substack.com/