1. Lexiles explained (in less than 20 slides) Jennine Bloomquist January 2015

2.  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

3.  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

4. 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 Circus Beginning Reader BR250(L) Hop on Pop High Low HL 420(L) Sticks and Stones Illustrated Guide IL1090(L) Mythical Monsters Graphic Novel GN640 (L) Frankenstein Non-Prose NP A Doll’s House Non-Conforming NC710(L) Alligators All Around Student Lexiles and Book Lexiles

5. Who Provides Student Lexile Measures?

6. 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)

7. Lexile Text Measures Do NOT Address: Text Characteristics O Age-appropriateness of content O Text support (e.g., pictures, pull-outs, captions, sidebar articles, etc) O Text quality Reader Characteristics O Interest and motivation O Background knowledge O Reading context and purpose  Lexile text measures measure text readability only.  Input from readers, parents, teachers and librarians is necessary.

8. Common Core State Standards Text Complexity Qualitative levels of meaning or purpose; structure; language conventionality and clarity; and knowledge demands. Quantitative those 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)

9. 3 characteristics of reading practice explain variance in achievement outcomes: comprehension, volume, and challenge Renaissance Learning, 2012

10. WHY DOES ALL THIS MATTER? Grade Band“Stretch” Lexile Band K-1N/A 2-3420-820L 4-5740-1010L 6-8925L-1185L 9-101050L-1335L 11-CCR1185L-1385L

11. 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.

12. 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

14. “Text complexity for older students mirrors some adult reading, but misses the rigor of college and career texts.” RL: What Kids Read 2015 Min 720 899 841 781 1152 1201 921 1483 1272 Max 1052 1307 1399 1448 1434 1420 1378 1638 1413 Ave 870 1052 1222 1300 1314 1336 1109 1561 1336

15. Changes in Textbook Complexity

16. College Remediation Rates

17. Life After Graduation “Student Readiness for Postsecondary Options” Gary Williamson, Ph.D. (2004) Median Text Measures: O 11th/12th grade (LA/SS textbooks): 1090L O Military (training/field manuals): 1180L O Citizenship (newspapers, voting, jury):1230L O Workplace (Daggett study materials): 1260L O Postsecondary - first two yrs (textbooks): 1355L O GED Test Materials:1060L O SAT/ACT Test Materials:1180L

18. 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.net Worldbook: Kids, Student, Advanced, Discover, Science Power, Social Studies Power Grolier: New Book of Knowledge, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, Amazing Animals, American the Beautiful, Lands and Peoples, New Book of Popular Science Gale/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 Context Ebrary Elementary NewsBank: Access World News, America’s Historical Newspapers, NewsBank Popular Periodicals Cider Book Flix