The Lexile Framework An Introduction for Educators Thomas Schnick and Mark Knickelbine Forward by A.J. Stenner An overview created by the Clair E. Gale

The Lexile FrameworkThe Lexile FrameworkAn Introduction for EducatorsAn Introduction for Educators

Thomas Schnick and Mark KnickelbineThomas Schnick and Mark KnickelbineForward by A.J. StennerForward by A.J. Stenner

An overview created by theClair E. Gale JHS

Professional Learning TeamMembers:

Kass Cornish, Terry Felts, Heath Jackson, Margie Kennedy, Dusty Johnson.

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsClick book icon to link to each chapter.Click book icon to link to each chapter.

• Chapter 1:The Dynamics of Reading Engagement

• Chapter 2: Matching Readers and Texts

• Chapter 3: The Lexile Framework – A Common Metric

• Chapter 4: Why Lexiles Work

• Chapter 5: Reader, Text, Context: Using Lexiles in Common Reading Situations

• Chapter 6: Lexiles and Content ReadingContents Continued

• Chapter 7: Lexiles in the Media Center

• Chapter 8: Using Lexiles with Reading Management Systems.

• Chapter 9: Using Lexiles to Communicate with the Community

• Chapter 10: Standard Setting with Lexiles

• Lesson Plans and Additional ResourcesLesson Plans and Additional Resources

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsClick book icon to link to each chapter.Click book icon to link to each chapter.

Back

Chapter 1:Chapter 1:The Dynamics of Reading EngagementThe Dynamics of Reading Engagement

• Twenty-two percent of high school seniors fail to reach the level of basic reading competency.

The educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are imperiled because they do not read well enough, quickly enough or easily enough to ensure comprehension in their content courses in middle and secondary school. Although some men and women with reading disability can and do attain significant levels of academic and occupational achievement, more typically poor readers, unless strategic interventions in reading are afforded them, fare more poorly on the educational and, subsequently, the occupational ladder. Although difficult to translate into actual dollar amounts, the costs to society are probably quite high in terms of lower productivity, underemployment, mental health services, and other measures.

• When students find it difficult to read, they read less, and it’s clear that students’ distaste for reading grows as they get older.

NextTable of Contents


Reading Engagement• People read for a reason

• The key to reading engagement, is to help each student discover literacy as a means of fulfilling one’s desires, of achieving one’s purposes, and of satisfying one’s curiosity.



“Fifth-Grade Shoes”

There is no such thing as a pair of fifth grade shoes. When purchasing a pair of shoes, one might ask the following questions.

• What will the shoes be used for (athletics, dress, hiking, etc)

• What size of foot does the person have• What color or style does the person like

Just as it is impossible to assume that all 5th graders wear the same size shoe, it is also impossible to assume that they all read at the same level.



ConclusionGuiding students to engaging and rewarding reading experiences can be a very complicated task. Yet, the more we learn about the individual guidance of teachers to literacy experience is a vital part of every child’s reading development. The following chapters provide ideas for implementing individual reading activities.


Chapter 2:Chapter 2:Matching Readers and TextsMatching Readers and Texts

Table of Contents Next

Introduction:“As with the many reading-related metrics already available – test scores,

percentiles, readability formulas, and the like- there is always the danger that we can begin to think of measuring student reading ability to be like measuring rainwater in a tube. Because the numbers we work with have the appearance of hard, objective facts, we begin to think of reading comprehension as something tangible that exists in a reader’s head.”

LEXILES – along with other assessment tools – should be considered an approximation of the student’s

ability. They cannot replace the experienced teacher as a judge of appropriateness of material.

The Teacher as a Guide:“While especially true for emerging readers, students at all levels need

the teacher to serve as a literate, experienced guide who can help them negotiate the many decisions that must be made when choosing a text, whether for learning or sheer enjoyment.”

“ . . . The process of selecting books and supplementary materials is best done as a shared process, the teacher serving as a guide to help students find the texts that reflect their interests and meet their developmental needs.”





The Reader:

•Background of Experience

•Knowledge of Subject

•Vocabulary

•Developmental Level

•Purpose and Motivation

The Text

•Consistency with student’s background and reading purpose.

•Format of the Book

•Concept Difficulty

•The Work’s Organization

•Author’s Purpose

The Context

•Reading Setting

•Task Given – free reading vs. research

•Objectives and Outcomes – stated and unstated expectations for reader

Factors to Consider:

The Challenge of Matching:

“By listening to students read aloud, an experienced teacher can spot the more advanced readers as well as the less proficient among the class. Indeed, the intuition born of personal experience will always be the teacher’s first and most important tool for guiding students.”

“However . . . . as objective as one may try to be, the possibility for biased or mistaken judgments exists. . . . . Research shows that teacher judgments of the relative difficulty of textual materials can vary by as much as six grade levels (Jorgenson, 1977).”



FOR EXAMPLE: While the books below may be commonly placed in the same grade level grouping, their Lexile levels vary more than one might expect.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 900LEvery Living Thing 1000LA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 1050LPudd’nhead Wilson 1130LThe Prince and the Pauper 1600L



The Apples and Oranges Problem:

“Grade level test scores are based on norms of student achievement; readability formulas are based on mathematical equations that model language difficulty. In short, there is no really relationship between a grade equivalency determined from a test score and one determined from a readability formula. Even though both appear to be giving the same kind of information, both are based on entirely different measurement.”

“As such [grade equivalent] scores are best interpreted solely as an indication that a student’s performance was above or below average, and not as a reliable measure of student progress.”



The Benefits of Lexiles:

• Introduces a single, common scale that can be used to refer to both student ability and text readability.

• Easy to understand and universally applicable to any test or reading assessment.

• Permits us to consider multiple indicators as we judge a student’s reading ability and development.



Chapter 3:Chapter 3:The Lexile Framework – A Common MetricThe Lexile Framework – A Common Metric


What are Lexiles?

• Lex- refers to words (lexicon.)• -iles refers to percentile or a comparative unit of measurement.• We use a standard unit with fixed units so that it doesn’t

change with every reading (no stretchy rulers.)



What Does It Measure?• Semantic Difficulty:

– Word Difficulty• Frequently encountered words are the easiest.• If we know how frequently a student has been exposed to

a word we can derive a difficulty for each word.• Originally derived from a body of over 5,000,000 words

sampled.• Testing has shown the validity of this predictor.



• Syntactic Difficulty– “Reading researchers have found that the best predictor of

the difficulty of a sentence is its length.”– Longer sentences tend to be more complex or compound.– Longer sentences push the reader’s short term memory to

hold more information.

What Does It Measure?



Together:S

ynta

ctic

Diff

icul

ty

Symantec Difficulty

• By looking at both traits, a set measure of difficulty for a text can be derived. A text high on one scale but low on another may score lower overall because of its area on the graph.



Using the same scale:• We can measure a student’s syntactic skills and semantic

skills.• By using the same scale to measure a text’s difficulty and

a student’s ability, Lexiles form a clean comparison.

=



The Open Range

• Lexiles describe a range of reading ability for each reader: 100 points below their score and 50 points above.

• This range shows the area at which a text becomes too easy and thus boring, or too hard and thus “stupid.”

• At the student’s score, the student should be able to grasp 75% of the text’s meaning.



Adjusting:

• By knowing the student’s range, we can adjust – By guiding students to texts that push them to

improve,– By selecting texts which allow students to access

information,– And by adjusting to suit other problems which might

detract from student understanding.

Chapter 4:Chapter 4:Why Lexiles WorkWhy Lexiles Work


I. Introduction:

An absolute scale for reading ability is needed to successfully match students’ reading skills to difficulty of text and to track the growth of students’ comprehension abilities.

A. The Lexile Framework does this better than any other testing format because Lexiles are divided into regular intervals similar to thermometers.

B. “Each Lexile unit is a standard measurement of text difficulty and/or student reading competence.” (p. 33)


II. True Score Theorem

A. Combination of student’s true ability and actual score

B. Measurement errors

1. difference in testing procedures

2. testing bias

3. physical well being of student



II. True Score Theorem

C. Difference between student’s ability and his score is the estimate of error which can identify the range in which the student’s true score is found.

“When a student takes an assessment that is targeted to his reading level …, then the standard error of measurement is minimized.” (p. 35)

D. Multiple observations and then a comparison of the results can minimize the error of measurement.

LEXILES CAN DO THESE!!



III. How Lexiles Measure Text:

A. Word Frequency1. Word frequency in Lexile Analyzer, not in specific

text.2. Over 200 million words in corpus of Lexile Analyzer.

B. Sentence Length/Complexity1. More clauses2. More information3. Relationships between the bits of information.4. Load on short term memory.



III. How Lexiles Measure Text:

C. Lexile Framework inserts these two measurements into an algebraic equation to determine the difficulty of the selected text.

D. Anchor Points1. Thermometer: freezing and boiling points

2. Lexiles: seven first grade primers and Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia.

3. Lexile = 1/1000 of the difference between these two anchor points.

4. Lexile Scale starts at 200 to prevent frequent occurrences of negative values.



IV. Conclusion:

A. The Lexile Framework will work on most texts, the only exceptions being poetry, lists, and noncontinuous texts.

B. The Lexile Framework is still only an estimate of student’s comprehension ability and reading skills, but it is the most accurate testing format available.


Basic Rule of Thumb:• A student’s Lexile measure represents the level at

which the student can read with 75% comprehension.• This measure defines 100 Lexiles below and 50

Lexiles above the student’s measure.• Use text lower in the student’s Lexile range when

reading situation is more challenging.• For unsupported independent reading, avoid texts

that are above the top end of the student’s Lexile range whenever possible.

• In all reading situations, use the Lexile scale as an accurate and easy way to communicate abilities, text difficulties, and goals for reading comprehension growth and achievement.





Stages of Reading Development:It takes most people 20 years to reach the highest stage

of reading development.

• Pre-reading stage – birth to age 6– Associate words and sounds– Identify rhymes and alliteration– Acquire basic phonemic awareness– Begin to understand that words come in parts and those parts are used to form words

• Stage One: 6 & 7 year-olds– INITIAL READING AND DECODING– Association of letters to the corresponding parts of spoken words– Notice subtle differences between similar-sounding words– Able to use knowledge to decode words not seen before



• Stage Two: 7 & 8 year-olds– Fluency– Reading familiar books

• Rereading encourages fluency– Learn to use decoding skills– Competence and confidence comes from rereading familiar words

Note: Proper development through this stage requires rereading many easy and familiar texts as well as functional and recreational reading during other parts of the school day.

• Stage Three: 9 – 11 year-olds– Read for learning and exploration– Read new information for assigned and self-selected purposes– Read to acquire and synthesize information from multiple sources– Begin to acquire individual tastes and preferences



• Stage Four: Junior High / High School– Reading to learn, to enjoy, to accomplish academic work. Reading to do.– Critically analyze texts.– Further develop reading interests

• Stage Five: College Level and Beyond– Mature reading– Moves from concrete reading to understanding the abstract– Assesses and evaluates information– Motivated by own purposes and tastes– Increases efficiency for career purposes and the breadth and depth of their

reading experiences and tastes



Using Lexiles to Adjust for Stages 1 & 2:• Adjustments for recognizable words:

– Students should focus on materials at about 50L below personal Lexile measures

– Shared reading or reading aloud is VERY important• Adjustment for familiar texts

– Read aloud to an interested and supportive adult– Needing rereading experiences with familiar texts

Adjustments for Stages 3 and Beyond:• Automaticity

– Occurs when a reader’s cognitive load shifts from sounding out and recognizing words to reading for meaning

Attention High School and Middle School Teachers: Readers who have not yet reached automaticity REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE need to be targeted somewhat differently than more mature readers.



Teaching Older Readers for Independent Reading:• After grade 3, students are expected to be “unglued from print” . . . In other

words, the reader’s attention should be focused on understanding the text . . . Not sounding out words.

• By 4th grade, students are “reading for learning the new” . . . the main purposes of reading are to acquire new information, explore new viewpoints, and develop an understanding of the world

• When we target readers with a range of Lexiled books, we distinguish between targeting Stage 1 and Stage 2 readers and targeting readers who have passed the threshold to Stage 3 and beyond

Note: As children move to higher stages of reading development, the content complexity grows. As the complexity grows, the child needs to have a broader and deeper expanse of knowledge and background to understand the technical and content – specific vocabulary.



Adjusting for Text Characteristics:• Know the Lexile measures for the texts you want to use• Also use www.lexile.com where one finds the Lexile Library

Adjusting for Format and Genre:• Clues that influence a student’s expectations about a text is difficult:

– Lack of illustrations– Length of book/article– Density / type size– Topic / genre / author

Supporting Tough Texts:• Know the Lexile measure of the text• Supply greater amounts of vocabulary and concepts as the text gets higher

from the students’ Lexiles• Give instructional support BEFORE the reading activity takes place



Strategies That Cause Students to Make Transformations:

• Readers are liable to be more alert and engaged in the text when they can transform the text from the author’s words into those of the reader

– Translate or retell what one has read with the text available

– Recall / retell without looking back at the text– Rewrite / summarize with the text available– Summarize without consulting the text– Outline with and without available text– Represent the text in a student – constructed

graphic organizer / illustration with the text available



Instruction on Authentic Texts and Tasks:• Ways to achieve some level of relevance in school

– Teaching methods / materials that are closer to the ways that REAL interests are built and language is learned– Construct an environment that excites interest and has life-like or problem-based orientation– Create instructional conversations: authentic interaction between people

Strategies, Not Skills• Teach students to use strategies such as self-monitoring or self-fixing• Encourage students to take responsibility for their own reading and learning

needs• Use question types that match instructional objectives (See Bloom’s Taxonomy or Marzano’s Dimensions of Thinking and Dimensions of Learning)



Adjustments for the Reading Content:• Reading / Language Arts Program

• Group Reading and Guided Reading

• Special Education Reading Programs

• Home Reading / Summer Reading Programs

Chapter 6:Chapter 6:Lexiles in Content ReadingLexiles in Content Reading


Introduction:

• With a recent shift in emphasis from fiction to expository text come additional challenges for the reader to overcome.

• “Many of these texts, while developmentally appropriate based on their content, often contain material at a readability level beyond the reader’s Lexile range. For example, these content-based texts often contain specialized vocabularies and explain complex concepts.”



Using the Lexile Framework Throughout the Curriculum:

• “In general, assign texts at or below the student’s Lexile measure when factors make the reading situation more challenging, threatening, or unfamiliar. Use texts at or above the student’s Lexile measure to stimulate challenge and growth, or when you will be adding support such as teaching background concepts, pre-teaching vocabulary, or facilitating post-reading activities, such as reading discussion groups.”

Determining the Match Between Students and Textbooks:

1. Obtain the Lexile measures for the texts you wish to assign.

2. Rank the materials you wish to assign by Lexile measure.

3. Write down the current Lexile measures for your students, again ranking them by Lexile measure.

4. Compare the ranges of the Lexile measures to the student measures. How well do they correspond?



ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL!

Teacher Read Aloud with Commentary:• Because it is easier to listen than read,

learners understand new material better when they use their listening vocabularies.

• While reading, the only time the teacher pauses is to make comments about the material, selecting hard words to explain or new concepts to relate.

• This method works best if kept short – about ten minutes or so.

• Post-reading activities help to consolidate learning.





Handling Content Density and Concept Overload:

A team of researchers, Lloyd and Mitchell (1989) came up with three research questions which are the same questions content teachers need to consider when planning instruction:

1. How important is the concept to the curriculum?

2. How completely is the concept developed in the text?

3. What level of prior knowledge do students need in order to be able to understand the concept?

If the concept is not covered clearly and thoroughly in the text, then you will need to support the textbook with additional instruction.

Reading Beyond the Textbook:

The content teacher can circumvent these potential problems by relying more on supplemental materials for instruction. In addition to the more common supplements (newspapers and magazines to update students with current information), researchers strongly recommend using literature – novels, biographies, autobiographies, storybooks, and other works of fiction and nonfiction – throughout the curriculum (Anderson, 1996)



Media Center is the Center of Literacy Education:• Rich reading environment• Guide students to appropriate reading experience• Readability of texts• Better accessibility• Empower students to play a more self-directed role in

reading development

Targeting Students in the Media Center:• Use same targeting procedures as in the classroom• Media Specialist and Teacher need to be a team

– Collaborate on Lexile Range of individual students– Collaborate to develop special collections to support class reading

assignments– Collaborate on intervention strategies for students who need extra

guidance– Replace grade-equivalent leveling with Lexile Range

Chapter 7:Chapter 7:Lexiles in the Media CenterLexiles in the Media Center


Students should be familiar with their Lexile Range

Book Labeling:• Label Books with Lexile Measures

– Help students find books of interest at their appropriate reading level– Provide information on individual books as well as magazines– Apply metacognitive awareness to selection process along with other

motivating factors: author, genre, information needs

Note: Media Specialists and Teachers worry about “labeling books.” Sometimes this can be a barrier to intellectual freedom. It may appear that certain books are “off-limits” to some students.

• If Lexile labeling is done sensitively and discreetly,

it overcomes many concerns generated by grade-leveling





Collection Development:• Media Center’s Collection of Appropriate Reading Levels for the Student

Population:– Media Specialist can analyze how well the current supply of reading

materials fits the comprehension needs of the student body.– Using the Lexile Framework allows the specialist to develop a collection of

books to meet the needs of all the students.– A media specialist can tell whether the collection of books is too

challenging for its current population, too easy . . . or just right. – A well-rounded distribution of books will include easier books for leisure

reading to more challenging material for study and exploration.

The role of the media center has changed. It is no longer a place where books are housed . . . .but an extension of the classroom. Just as adults like choosing books themselves, so do students. With the

Lexile Framework System in a library, students will be better able to chose the right book for their reading level.

In general, reading management systems use quizzes to assess comprehension and produce reports containing a variety of

information.

• RMS’s started in the late 80’s

• Characteristics:– Multiple choice quizzes for comprehension & recall– Provide immediate feedback– Award points based on length and difficulty (points can be used for

extrinsic motivation)– Both on-screen and printable reports

• First became popular because of student interest with computers, as well as incentive activities

Chapter 8:Chapter 8:Using Lexiles with Reading Management SystemsUsing Lexiles with Reading Management Systems




Accelerated Reader

•First marketed under “Read Up”

•Most widely used through the 90’s

•Over 25,000 fiction and nonfiction titles

•Quizzes have 5 – 10 questions with multiple choice responses

•Point value based on book length and readability level

•Drawbacks:

•Exclusive grade equivalent leveling

•Readability formulas have changed over the years, creating inconsistencies

•Although responses are random, each quiz for a book has the same questions (limits retake options and makes cheating more possible)

•Fact-based questions fail to stimulate higher-level thinking

•No provision for teachers to customize quiz length, passing score, point level, etc.



The Electronic Bookshelf

•The first program widely available

•Very similar to Accelerated Reader

•Differences:

•Quizzes provide three responses instead of four

•Responses are drawn randomly for each quiz

Provides some protection against cheating

Permits student retakes

Highly customizable



Reading Counts

•In 1998, Scholastic acquired the Electronic Bookshelf and upgraded it to create Reading Counts

•Characteristics:

•Multiple choice quizzes with 4 responses

•Randomized item bank

•Questions include inference and maid idea questions as well as basic recall

•Includes book leveling in Lexiles, along with traditional grade leveling

•Program can print stickers for Lexile labeling of books



Online Reader

•Most recently created management program

•Uses Lexiles as readability scale

•Has many features of other computerized programs

•Focuses on periodical articles instead of trade books

•Has library of over 350 selections

•Quiz items include fill-in-the-blank as well as multiple choice



Basic Lexile Procedure for Reading Management Systems:

•Student competency range – if student can answer at least 75-80% of the questions with accuracy

•Below 75% - The teacher should intervene to determine book difficulty

•Over 100% - Time for teacher intervention to encourage more challenging reading

Chapter 9:Chapter 9:Using Lexiles to Communicate with Parents and the CommunityUsing Lexiles to Communicate with Parents and the Community

• Lexiles provide a common language with which to communicate with parents and the community.

• Lexiles provide a way to compare a student’s reading

performance to textual difficulty instead of to their peers.

• Educators can give examples of specific texts to parents

to illustrate the student’s reading proficiency.


INTRODUCTION

Communicating with Parents


• Reading Folders/Portfolios– List of books within the student’s Lexile range.– Documentation of reading assessments.– Reading form to record reading done at home.– Written record of titles that students have read. – Student writing.– Simple explanation of the Lexile Framework.

• Open House– Poster board displays.– Samples of lexiled texts.– Take-home sheets that explain the Lexile Framework.

• Report Cards– Include student’s lexile measure on report card with an accompanying

information sheet.

Techniques for Parent Communications



• “Reading is one of the core skills that is expected to be taught at school. … [and] is one of the chief factors people examine when they assess the quality of schools.” (p.87)

• Community Relationships– Involve public libraries and bookstores by displaying lexile scales and

stocking books that the schools are using.

• Media Relations– Use newspapers to explain what Lexiles are and how they work.

• Service Group Presentations– Prepare 15 minute presentations to gain the support of influential

organizations.

• Business Partnerships– Approach business leaders to gain their support and involvement

in promoting literacy.



CONCLUSION

“No school stands alone. It is

vitally connected with the parents of

its students and with everyone in the

wider community who depend on the

school’s success.” (p. 90)

Communication about the benefits of

the Lexile Framework will allow the

community to participate in the

school’s reading success.


What is a Standard?• A useful definition is that a standard is a statement

about what is valued that can be used for making a judgment of quality.

Chapter 10:Chapter 10:Standard Setting With LexilesStandard Setting With Lexiles


Using Lexiles to Set Standards• Lexiles are not linked to a specific test, but

can be derived from any standardized test.

• Lexiles allow you to have multiple indicators report a common metric. Instead of having only one annual measurement of student ability, you can now compile a variety of measurements and observations, all converted to the Lexile Scale.



• We teach students to read in the first place because we want them to be able to use reading successfully as a skill they can apply to their lives. Our end-point standards, then, should involve texts that people need to read with enough comprehension to function in various areas of life.



We could define five such areas of literacy:

• Workplace Literacy

• Citizenship Literacy

• Continuing Education Literacy

• Moral/Ethical/Religious Literacy

• Recreational Literacy



ConclusionBy grounding the process of standard and benchmark setting in the context of real texts we want our students to comprehend, and by providing us with an absolute scale on which to place both students and texts of any kind, the Lexile Framework provides a strong foundation for setting reading standards.



Lesson Plans & ResourcesLesson Plans & Resources

Table of Contents

•Lexile List of Popular Adolescent Literature

•Article: “Matching Readers to Text”

•Lesson Plan: Using Lexiles in Research

•Lexiles of Selected Text Books

•“Reading is Thinking” –

Pre-reading and Cooperative Learning Activities

Documents

The Lexile Framework An Introduction for Educators Thomas Schnick and Mark Knickelbine Forward by A.J. Stenner An overview created by the Clair E. Gale