Student Article Level
Newsela is adaptive.
Newsela provides the majority of its content at five different reading levels so students have the greatest possible opportunity for growth, then continuously calculates customized article levels for each student and:
Presents students with articles at that level by default.
Supplies the recommended level as a reference to teachers who can set the article level of assignments at the recommended level or at a specific level of their choosing.
In either scenario, teachers can turn on and off students’ ability to change the level of a text. More on this in our article on level control.
How and When Are Student Article Levels Calculated?
Newsela’s recommended article levels for students are determined based on student performance data on Newsela’s quizzes and other activities.
When Newsela does not yet have enough information to make a customized article level recommendation, students are automatically set to read grade-level texts based on the grade level of the classroom minus one. If the classroom does not have a selected grade level (and the student hasn’t reached the required minimum) they are set to the fifth grade level.
For districts that have turned on Newsela’s NWEA integration (for more on Newsela’s NWEA integration, see NWEA and Newsela), in the event Newsela does not yet have student performance data from within Newsela, we will defer to NWEA data. However, as students begin engaging with Newsela content and quizzes, their performance data from within Newsela will carry more weight into their recommended article level than the NWEA data.
In order to make recommendations based on Newsela performance, students must have taken at least one quiz or one Check for Understanding activity. Assigned and Independent Work carry the same weight when calculating the recommended article level.
When determining recommended article levels, Newsela takes into consideration the following factors, in order of weighted contribution:
Prior quiz interactions
Checks for Understanding interactions
Guided Highlighting interactions
Student’s academic grade level (from rostering)
NWEA/MAP scores (if available)
Things to Note
Article levels are calculated for students who viewed at least two articles.
Student article level recommendations are only influenced by English quizzes at this time.
Teachers with a premium subscription can review student article levels under Classroom Data in the Reports tab.
Rather than a diagnostic, a student’s article level is a recommendation of the best level for the articles they will read next.
Article Level Recommendation shows a recommended level PER ARTICLE, not overall for the student. i.e. it is not an overall placement predictor.
You can learn more about finding and navigating the article levels available for each article here and more about quizzes here.
The Teacher's Role
The right text level depends on the student and learning goal
Need help deciding which version to use for an upcoming lesson?
Contact your Customer Success team, we’re happy to talk through options and share classroom‑tested strategies.
Learn more about Newsela's article leveling and how it is used