AbstractAs currently used, informal reading inventories (IRIs) and the cloze procedure may provide inaccurate information and inhibit the progress of students who lag behind their peers in reading. I examine the concept of frustration level in both IRI and cloze testing and posit that in attempting to avoid frustrating students, we have often failed to provide sufficient challenge and have contributed to their feeling of helplessness. The case of a fifth grader named Jimmy illustrates the concepts presented.