> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.learningcommons.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Grade Level Appropriateness

> Reference documentation for the Grade Level Appropriateness literacy evaluator.

export const EarlyAccessCallout = ({children}) => <div className="eyebrow-callout not-prose rounded-xl border border-gray-200/80 p-5 dark:border-white/10" style={{
  marginBottom: "1rem",
  borderRadius: "4px"
}}>
    <div className="mb-3">
      <Badge color="green" size="md" icon="flask">
        Early access
      </Badge>
    </div>
    <div className="callout-body text-[15px] leading-relaxed text-gray-700 dark:text-gray-300">{children}</div>
    <style>{`.callout-body a { text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-color: #178251; }`}</style>
  </div>;

[Evaluator last updated September 23, 2025.](#evaluator-release-history)

<EarlyAccessCallout>
  This functionality is actively evolving. Changes may occur as we expand
  capabilities and improve accuracy and reliability. Email
  [support@learningcommons.org](mailto:support@learningcommons.org) ↗ with your
  feedback or issues.
</EarlyAccessCallout>

## Overview

The Grade Level Appropriateness evaluator assesses whether AI-generated text is suitable for independent reading at a specified grade band.

The evaluator considers:

* Flesch-Kincaid grade level
* Word count
* Text structure – Organization complexity, connections between ideas, text features
* Language features – Vocabulary, sentence complexity, figurative or abstract
* Purpose – Explicitly vs. not explicitly stated, concrete vs. abstract
* Knowledge demands – Discipline-specific knowledge, references, allusions
* Student background knowledge – What students at a given grade level would already know

## At a glance

|                      |                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| :------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Input type**       | Informational text                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| **Supported grades** | K–12                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
| **Rubric**           | [SAP](https://learnwithsap.org/) ↗'s [Qualitative Text Complexity Rubric for Informational Text](https://learnwithsap.b-cdn.net/app/uploads/2026/04/Qualitative-Text-Complexity-Rubric-Informational.pdf) ↗ |

The evaluator was built and validated using the model and temperature below (other configurations will produce different results and may have lower accuracy):

|                 |                                               |
| :-------------- | :-------------------------------------------- |
| **Model used**  | Gemini-2.5-pro (gemini-2.5-pro-preview-06-05) |
| **Temperature** | 0.25                                          |

## Getting started

Follow the [Quickstart](/evaluators/getting-started/quickstart) to start using this evaluator:

| Access method             |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| :------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Evaluators Playground** | [View in the Learning Commons Platform](https://platform.learningcommons.org/apps/evaluators/playground?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=evaluators) ↗                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| **SDK**                   | [Python](https://github.com/learning-commons-org/evaluators/blob/main/sdks/python/src/learning_commons_evaluators/evaluators/grade_level_appropriateness.py?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=evaluators) ↗ and [TypeScript](https://github.com/learning-commons-org/evaluators/blob/main/sdks/typescript/src/evaluators/grade-level-appropriateness.ts?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=evaluators) ↗ |
| **Python notebook**       | [View in GitHub](https://github.com/learning-commons-org/evaluators/blob/main/evals/grade_level_evaluator.ipynb?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=evaluators) ↗                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| **Prompts**               | [View in GitHub](https://github.com/learning-commons-org/evaluators/blob/main/evals/prompts/gla_prompts.py?utm_source=docs\&utm_medium=evaluators) ↗                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |

## Inputs

| Input                  | Description                                           | Required |
| :--------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------- | :------- |
| **Target grade level** | Enables grade context evaluation                      | Yes      |
| **Text type**          | Informational text<br />Optimal length \< 1,200 words | Yes      |

## Output

| Field                  | Description                                                                                                   |
| :--------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Grade**              | Grade band where a student can read the text independently                                                    |
| **Reasoning**          | Reasoning for the output grade level (quantitative score, qualitative features, assumed background knowledge) |
| **Alternative grade**  | Text is appropriate for supported reading (e.g., read-aloud)                                                  |
| **Scaffolding needed** | Supports needed for supported reading (e.g., pre-teaching of vocabulary)                                      |

## Interpreting results

| Output                                     | How to use                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
| :----------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Grade + Reasoning**                      | Evaluate and improve the complexity of your AI-generated content<br /><br />**Example**: Validate that your LLM prompts produce grade-appropriate content; aggregate reasoning across runs to diagnose and fix systemic complexity issues |
| **Alternative grade + Scaffolding needed** | Adapt content for a wider range of learners.<br /><br />**Example**: Make scaffolding suggestions (e.g., vocabulary pre-teaching, read-aloud) to help educators adapt content for mixed classrooms                                        |

## Accuracy and validation

<Note>
  This evaluator is provided as Early access. Comprehensive accuracy measures
  are not yet available. Validation testing is ongoing.
</Note>

We assessed performance against an expert-annotated dataset of [CLEAR Corpus](https://www.commonlit.org/blog/introducing-the-clear-corpus-an-open-dataset-to-advance-research-28ff8cfea84a/) ↗ and Common Core Appendix B exemplar texts:

| Metric                  | Description                                                                                         | Result                                      |
| :---------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------ |
| **Overall accuracy**    | How accurately the evaluator determines grade level appropriateness compared to expert annotations. | 81% (70 correct out of 86 texts)            |
| **Baseline comparison** | How the evaluator's accuracy compares to a simple, unrefined grade-level appropriateness prompt.    | 58% more accurate than a naive LLM baseline |

For more information on our validation process, see [Accuracy](/evaluators/understanding-evaluators/core-concepts#interpreting-accuracy).

## Evaluator release history

| Date               | Changed       |
| ------------------ | ------------- |
| September 23, 2025 | First release |