1

2 The Shoe Story by Dr. Jack Stenner, CEO of MetaMetrics, Inc. Some time ago, I went into a shoe store and asked for a fifth-grade shoe. The clerk looked at me suspiciously and asked if I knew how much shoe sizes varied among 11-year-olds. He pointed out that the shoe size was not nearly as important as purpose, style, color, etc. But if I would specify the features I wanted and size, he could walk to the back and magically reappear with several options to my liking.

3 He further noted, somewhat condescendingly, that the store used the same metric to measure feet and shoes, and that when there was a match between foot and shoe, the shoes got worn, there was no pain, the customer was happy and became a repeat customer. I called home and got my son’s shoe size and then asked the clerk for a size 8, high-top basketball shoe.

4 After a brief credit-card transaction, I had my shoes.

5 I then walked next door to my favorite bookstore and asked for a fifth-grade fantasy novel. Without hesitation, the clerk and I walked to a shelf where she gave me three choices. I chose The Hobbit, a 1000 Lexile classic that I had read three times, and went home. My son, I later learned, was then reading at 850 Lexiles. His understandable response was… to put down the book in favor of passionately practicing free throws in the driveway.

What is a Lexile Measure?  Valuable information about either an individual’s reading ability or the difficulty of a text  Measures from 200L to 2000L 6

What is a Lexile based on?  Two strong predictors of how difficult a text is to comprehend.  Word frequency  Sentence length 7

The Lexile Framework  If we know how well a student can read and how hard a specific book is to comprehend, we can predict how well that student will likely understand the book.  “Targeted” reading experience 8

Targeted Reading Experience  Student will comprehend approximately 75% of a book with the same Lexile measure.  Reader will comprehend enough to understand the text, but will also face some reading challenge. 9

Lexile Range  Suggested range that the student should be reading  Want 50L above to 100L below the student’s Lexile measure 10

What a Lexile does NOT measure  Content  Complexity of plot  Complexity of character(s)  Quality  “Good” books  Books to “hook” reluctant readers  Developmental Suitability  Age appropriateness  Prior knowledge required for comprehension 11

Lexile.com Lexile.com/booksearch  Provides Lexile measures of books  Can search for books using a Lexile range  Several search options 12

Lexile / Grade Equivalent Range GradeLexile Range

14

15 Why do some students who enter first grade with an excitement for reading, lose it completely by high school?

16 “I could get students reading, if only I could…” Know students’ reading levels now, not at the end of the year. Have tools to match readers to text. Give students a choice of books.

17 SRI Test Validity  Passages from authentic fiction and nonfiction text  Questions with an embedded completion item format

18 An Overview of SRI An item bank of more than 4,500 test questions Fill-in-the-blank (cloze) format with multiple choice answers Untimed testing session Average of 25 questions Three skips without affecting test results

19 Use SRI Results to… Match students to appropriate text. Monitor students’ reading growth over time and progress toward grade-level proficiency. Group students to provide targeted instruction.

20 What Can Affect Test Results? Physical State Hunger Illness Anxiety Fatigue Physical Comfort External Sources Noise Timing Lighting Weather Interruptions Temperature Emotional State Excitement Anxiety Attentiveness Confidence Relationships

21 The Student Experience Log in to SRI. Choose up to three book interests. Take a practice test. Take an SRI test. View a personal reading list.

22 Log in to SRI

23 Choose Book Interests

24 Take a Practice Test Ensures students understand directions. Prompts students who have difficulty to ask for help.

25 Take an SRI Test

26 View a Reading List

27 The Lexile Framework for Reading Research-based readability measure Places student and text on the same level Helps you match students to leveled books

28 Children’s Books Fourth Grade Rats The Music of Dolphins Because of Winn-Dixie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Love That Dog 340L 610L 560L 730L 780L 1010L 880L

29 Adult Books

30 Adult Books Along Came a Spider The Color Purple The Firm Jurassic Park Where Are the Children The Lovely Bones In Cold Blood 1040L 890L 790L 680L 710L 670L 600L

31 Students Learn to Read By Reading Voluminously!

32 Talking About Books Discuss books during conferences. Encourage students to recommend books to other students. Direct book talks and author studies.

33 Report Types Classroom Management Progress Monitoring Instructional Planning Alerts and Acknowledgments School-to-Home Communication

34