Parents, caregivers, and educators all want to know about students' reading levels. Parents typically want reassurance that their child is making adequate progress or, if not, what appropriate, purposeful interventions are being provided. Educators frequently use this kind of information to discuss students' placement in instructional programs and to determine their progress over time. Historically, the term 'grade level' has been the most well-understood terminology for these discussions. 'Your child is on grade level in reading.' 'This student is reading 2 grades above her level', etc. Since the mid-1990s students' reading level is often discussed in terms used by the widely implemented 'guided reading' programs where levels are reported as A-Z+ with bands of these 'gradient text levels' are assigned to grade level equivalents (e.g., Levels E-J are for grade 3). This session reviews the pros and cons of using 'grade level' or 'gradient level' to communicate a student's level of progress or proficiency in reading. Using terminology aligned with the concept of reading development over time (Chall's reading 'stages', Ehri's 'phases' and Kilpatrick's 'levels') will be suggested as a more valuable and justifiable way to have these important conversations, at least at the early stages of reading development. This PD Pop+ will be from 4:00-5:30 and the live virtual session will be recorded and shared with all registrants.