Lexiles explained (in less than 20

slides)

Jennine BloomquistJanuary 2015

Developed by MetaMetrics, based on research funded by National Institute for Child Health Development

Links readers AND texts with the designation “Lexile”

Allows teachers to forecast the level of comprehension a reader is expected to experience with a particular text

A student’s Lexile is interpreted as the level of book that a student can read with 75% comprehension (“offering the reader a certain amount of comfort and yet still offer a challenge”)

Most commonly used reading measure: Over 19 million students receive Lexile scores

through commercial/state assessments in all 50 states

Over 100,000+ books and tens of millions of articles (print and online) have Lexile measures

The Lexile

Semantic Difficulty (Word Frequency) Difficulty of

words is based upon exposure; as a reader encounters a word again and again, it becomes more familiar

Syntactic Complexity (Sentence Length) Long

sentences contain more clauses, communicate more information and ideas, require a reader to retain more information in short-term memory

Lexiles are based upon

A Student Lexile is used for:

targeting reading material for students

A Book Lexile is used for:

measuring the difficulty of a particular text

Additional designations that can be added to Lexiles for more information:

Adult Directed AD70(L) Olivia Saves the CircusBeginning Reader BR250(L) Hop on PopHigh Low HL 420(L) Sticks and StonesIllustrated Guide IL1090(L) Mythical MonstersGraphic Novel GN640 (L) FrankensteinNon-Prose NP A Doll’s HouseNon-Conforming NC710(L) Alligators All Around

Student Lexiles and Book Lexiles

Who Provides Student Lexile Measures?

Readers should choose texts within their Lexile Range

A Lexile Range is 50L above and 100L below a student’s reported Lexile measure

(A student with a 890L should choose texts to read with Lexiles between 790L and

940L)

Lexile Text Measures Do NOT Address:

Text CharacteristicsO Age-appropriateness of

contentO Text support (e.g., pictures,

pull-outs, captions, sidebar articles, etc)

O Text quality

Reader Characteristics

O Interest and motivationO Background knowledgeO Reading context and

purpose

Lexile text measures measure text readability only. Input from readers, parents, teachers and librarians is necessary.

Common Core State Standards Text

ComplexityQualitative levels of meaning or purpose; structure; language conventionality and clarity; and knowledge demands.

Quantitativethose aspects of text complexity, such as word length or frequency, sentence length, and text cohesion, that are difficult if not impossible for a human reader to evaluate efficiently, especially in long texts, and are thus today typically measured by computer software.

*Reader and Task considerations (i.e., student knowledge, motivation, and interests)While the prior two elements of the model focus on the inherent complexity of text, variables specific to particular readers (such as motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and to particular tasks (such as purpose and the complexity of the task assigned and the questions posed) must also be considered when determining whether a text is appropriate for a given student. Such assessments are best made by teachers employing their professional judgment, experience, and knowledge of their students and the subject.

(NYSCC Appendix A, p4)

3 characteristics of reading practice explain variance in achievement outcomes: comprehension, volume, and challenge

Renaissance Learning, 2012

WHY DOES ALL THIS MATTER?

Grade Band “Stretch” Lexile Band

K-1 N/A

2-3 420-820L

4-5 740-1010L

6-8 925L-1185L

9-10 1050L-1335L

11-CCR 1185L-1385L

Lexile Stretch Bands & College- and Career-

Readiness

The “stretch” bands of the Lexile Framework show an

upward trajectory of reading comprehension development

through the grades to indicate that all students should be reading at the college- and career-readiness level by no

later than the end of high school.

College and Career Readiness Skills

“Students in college are expected to read complex texts with substantially greater independence (i.e., much less scaffolding) than are students in typical K–12 programs. College students are held more accountable for what they read on their own than are most students in high school.”

-Erickson & Strommer, 1991; Pritchard, Wilson, & Yamnitz, 2007

“Text complexity for older students mirrors some adult reading, but misses the rigor of college and

career texts.”RL: What Kids Read 2015

Min7208998417811152120192114831272

Max105213071399144814341420 137816381413

Ave87010521222130013141336110915611336

Changes in Textbook Complexity

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1919-1945 1946-1962 (60s) 1963-1991 (70s-90s) Present Day (2000-2010)

Grade 4 Grade 8

College Remediation Rates

Life After Graduation“Student Readiness for Postsecondary Options”

Gary Williamson, Ph.D. (2004)

Median Text Measures:O 11th/12th grade (LA/SS textbooks): 1090LO Military (training/field manuals):

1180LO Citizenship (newspapers, voting, jury): 1230LO Workplace (Daggett study materials): 1260LO Postsecondary - first two yrs (textbooks): 1355L

O GED Test Materials:1060LO SAT/ACT Test Materials: 1180L

CHS Library OPAC: 2598/9921 26%CMS Library OPAC: 7553/11548 65%CHE Library OPAC: 5159/7272 70%Annsville Library OPAC: 4487/10284 44%McVille Library OPAC: 7316/9554 77%

Databases that allow searching by Lexile:

TeachingBooks.netWorldbook: Kids, Student, Advanced, Discover, Science Power, Social Studies PowerGrolier: New Book of Knowledge, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Amazing Animals, American the Beautiful, Lands and Peoples, New Book of Popular ScienceGale/Cengage Learning:Kids InfoBits, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Infotrac Newsstand, World History Online,War and Terrorism, Vocations and Careers, US History, Small Business, Religion and Philosophy, Psychology, Popular Magazines, Pop Culture, Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health, Military and Intelligence, Insurance and Liability, Information Science and Library Issues, Hospitality/Tourism/Leisure, Home Improvement,Health Reference Center, General Science, General OneFile, Gender Studies, Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture, Gale Virtual Reference , Fine Arts and Music, Expanded Academic ASAP, Environmental Studies and Policy, Diversity Studies, Culinary Arts, Criminal Justice, Computer, Communications and Mass Media, Business Economics and Theory, Agriculture, Academic OneFile, Science in Context, Biography in ContextEbrary ElementaryNewsBank:Access World News, America’s Historical Newspapers, NewsBank Popular PeriodicalsCiderBook Flix