LEXILES AND YOU

www.lexile.com

Comprehension

n 1: an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result); "how you can do that is beyond my comprehension"; "he was famous for his comprehension of American literature"

What are Lexiles?

A Lexile is a standard unit for A Lexile is a standard unit for measuring the comprehensibility of measuring the comprehensibility of texttext

Semantics (meaning)Semantics (meaning)

Syntax (sentence structure)Syntax (sentence structure)

A Lexile measure or range can also A Lexile measure or range can also be assigned to a studentbe assigned to a student

June 18, 2007 Edvance Research, Inc. 4

Workplace Lexiles (from MetaMetrics, 2007 & Williamson, 2006a)

200 = 1st grade

1123 = 11-12th grade texts

1355 = 1st Year College texts

Forklift Operations Manual 890Adobe PhotoShop 5.0 Tutorial 1080Fine Homebuilding Magazine 11502008 Cadillac Eldorado Brochure 1150Attendance Policy for Hourly Employees 1210Federal Form W-4 1260Free Application for Federal Student Aid 1270Aetna U.S. Healthcare - Open Choice PPO 1280U.S. Dept. of Justice (INS) - Employment Eligibility Verification 1340

June 18, 2007 Edvance Research, Inc. 5

Newspaper Lexiles

(from MetaMetrics, 2007 & Williamson

2006a) 200 = 1st grade

1123 = 11-12th grade texts

1355 = 1st Year College texts

Miami Herald 1200USA Today 1200Chicago Sun-Times 1210New York Daily News 1230San Francisco Examiner 1230San Jose Mercury 1230New York Post 1280Washington Times 1290Associated Press 1310Chicago Tribune 1310Wall Street Journal 1320Los Angeles Times 1330Washington Post 1350UPI 1370Bloomberg 1380New York Times 1380Reuters 1440

June 18, 2007 Edvance Research, Inc. 6

Comparing Text Difficulty and Person Ability

PersonAbility

TextDifficulty

750 750

1000

1250

500

250

ExpectedComprehension

Rate

25%

50%

75%

90%

95%

1000

1250

500

250

June 18, 2007 Edvance Research, Inc. 7

What does Comprehension-Rate mean?

This rose-bush, by a strange chance, has been kept alive in history; but whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness, so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it, or whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson as she entered the prison-door, we shall not take upon us to determine.

- The Scarlet Letter (1400L)

Cloze item: The rose-bush serves as a vibrant ______ for this tale.

June 18, 2007 Slide 8

Standard:2100 TAKS1015 Lexile

Higher Ed:2200 TAKS1170 Lexile

Commended:2400 TAKS1490 Lexile

TAKS Performanc

e Standards Overlay on

Text Demands

(adapted from Williamson, 2006a)

7

Determining YourLexile Range

Independent ReadingIndependent ReadingRange of difficulty should be . . .Range of difficulty should be . . .50 Lexiles above to 100 Lexiles below50 Lexiles above to 100 Lexiles below

Instructional ReadingInstructional ReadingRange of difficulty should be . . .Range of difficulty should be . . .50 to 150 Lexiles above50 to 150 Lexiles above

June 18, 2007 Edvance Research, Inc. 10

Willamson, G. L. (2006a). Student Readiness for Postsecondary Endeavors. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA.

Willamson, G. L. (2006b). Aligning the Journey with the Destination. Durham, NC: MetaMetrics, Inc.

References