“DD is in kindergarten and is doing really well with reading. She's apparently just skipped from Level 6 to Level 10, and while I know this is the usual level expected at the end of kindergarten, I don't really know much about what the levels mean.”
I thought I would share my response with you all (please keep in mind that these levels are for the Pm Reading Series). These are very general indications only and will vary from school to school and from child to child. In no way is it recommended that children be restricted to this table. It may well be that a child in Year 6 has a reading age of 9.5 in Kindergarten. It may also be that a child in year 4 has a reading age of 7.5. Nothing here is set in stone and the table is given as a very general overview and guide to how the grades, reading levels, ages and titles in the PM Library align with one another.
Year: K; PM Reading Levels: 1 - 6
Year:1; PM Reading Levels: 7 - 12
Year2; PM Reading Levels: 13
Year2; PM Reading Levels: 14
Year:2; PM Reading Levels: 15; "Reading Age": 6.5
Year:2; PM Reading Levels: 16; "Reading Age": 7.0
Year:2; PM Reading Levels: 17; "Reading Age": 7.0
Year:2; PM Reading Levels: 18; "Reading Age": 7.5
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 19; "Reading Age": 7.5
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 20; "Reading Age": 8.0
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 21; "Reading Age": 8.0
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 22; "Reading Age": 8.5
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 23; "Reading Age": 8.5
Year:3; PM Reading Levels: 24; "Reading Age": 8.5 - 9.0
Year:4; PM Reading Levels: 25; "Reading Age": 9.0 - 9.5
Year:4; PM Reading Levels: 26; "Reading Age": 9.5 - 10.0
Year:5; PM Reading Levels: 27; "Reading Age": 10.0 - 10.5
Year:5; PM Reading Levels: 28; "Reading Age": 10.5 - 11.0
Year:6; PM Reading Levels: 29; "Reading Age": 11.0 - 11.5
Year:6; PM Reading Levels: 30; "Reading Age": 11.5 - 12.0
Children will move levels based on a number of factors which are; miscue analysis (accuracy), running records (fluency), comprehension (literal, inferential and applied) and vocabulary.