Ms. Reagan just needs to increase the intensity of the reading. If they are motivated and feel successful at reading, then the hard part is done. She should simply increase the rigor and inform them that it is happening and that they are going to raise their goals to read at the next level. Allow some sort of reward for each level that students move up in. This may get them aware of the fact that there are levels and they should be working towards moving up!

Wow! I can relate to this scenario, I teach Fourth Grade Reading and numerous of my students are not reading on grade level. For my students, at the beginning of the year we get a baseline to see where they are currently. We then go over there individual baseline and then set a goal for them to reach. We also do an IDI inventory to see where their disconnect lies. We take the Star Reading test. If their Star test shows they are reading at 400 lexile level then we set the goal for raising that. I model what a good reader thinks, read fluently, and inflection. We practice in small groups or individually on reading, sounding out words, and using fry words. Then we revisit, adjust, and reevaluate their goals as they year goes on.

Ms. Regan should inform the students of their correct reading level. The students need to know what level they are on, what level they should be on, and what strategies they can do to get there. Ms. Regan should meet with them and explain all of that and explain to the students that not being on correct reading grade level is not a bad thing as long as you are taking the measures to make improvements. She should ask them to provide a goal for reading and share what they think they can do to obtain their goal. She should express that she is invested in their education and know that they are extremely smart and capable of getting on grade level but it will take hard work and dedication. She should than have them write their goals, what they need to do to make gains, and provide them with strategies she feel will assist. The students should place them in an area where they can look at it daily to remind them of what they need to do. She should also get the phones where they can hear themselves read. She should model read and then ask them which one sounded better and why. Then provide more encouragement that they can read like that also and she was not born reading this way it took time, hard work, and dedication.

Students need to see and hear models of above level readers, on level readers, and below level readers. If they only hear students reading who read like them, they will most likely think they are performing well. They could then record themselves reading a passage on the iPad and then identify themselves as one of the models after listening to the playback of them reading.