Alignment to Other Leveling Systems

American Reading Company levels are independent reading levels. A reader’s color level is the highest grade level he or she can read, understand, and enjoy without any help.

The independent level is not the level at which a student reads challenge-free. It is the level at which students can successfully manage the challenges they encounter on their own.

Guided Reading and other instructional levels assume a teacher is there to introduce the book and provide some help where needed. However, the following correlations may be useful.

Grade ARC Lexile Text Measures Guided Reading DRA
K

Y (1-Yellow)

YY (2-Yellow)

G (1-Green)

— A, B A–2
1

GG (2-Green)

B (1-Blue)

BB (2-Blue)

200L–400L C–I 3–16
2

R (1-Red)

RR (2-Red)

300L–500L J–M 18–28
3

Wt (White)

500L–700L N–P 30–38
4

Bk (Black)

650L–850L Q–R 40
5

Or (Orange)

750L–950L S–V 50
6

Pu (Purple)

850L–1050L W–Y 60
7 & 8

Br (Bronze)

950L–1100L Z 70–80
9 & 10

Si (Silver)

1050L–1200L — —
11 & 12

Gl (Gold)

1100L–1300 — —

IRLA: Independent Reading Level Assessment®

The IRLA provides comprehensive details about each readling level in American Reading Company’s leveling system. Learn more »