The Lexile Framework®

for Reading

Lexiles in Action Presented by:Jason Turner,

Professional ServicesMetaMetrics®, Inc.

jturner@lexile.com

Before we begin…

Today’s Agenda

I. Introduction to the Lexile Framework for Reading• Agenda• Objectives• Activity: Establish your goals

II. Lexile Framework Workshop• Lexile-linked assessments• Lexiles and the CRCT• The Lexile Framework: a frame of reference• The Lexile Framework IS/IS NOT• Activity: Current practices

Today’s Agenda (continued)II. Lexile Framework Workshop (continued)

• Points to remember: scope of the scale• Two underlying concepts• Two characteristics of text readability• Building reading ability (matched text)• Lexile comprehension model• Lexiles and differentiation: Lexiles and the content areas• Benefits of the Lexile Framework for Reading• Limitations of the Lexile Framework for Reading• Points to remember• Summer loss and Durham NC• Reading habits and best practices• Reading demands and the post-secondary world

Today’s Agenda (continued)III. Lexile Resources

• Navigating the Lexile website• Lexile video• Find A Book• Activity: Using Find A Book• Lexile codes• Activity: Using the Lexile Calculator• Activity: Find A Book in the content areas• Activity: Using the Lexile Analyzer

IV. Lexiles In Action• Georgiastandards.org: Reading across the content areas• Georgiastandards.org: Resources and videos• Galileo tutorial• Activity: Navigating through Galileo• Activity: Building a targeted text planner

Today’s Agenda (cotinued)V. Lexiles In Action, Part 2

• Science resource samples• Social Studies resource samples• ELA resource samples• CTAE resource samples• Task suggestions: purpose• Task suggestions: samples

• Classification Notes• Collaborative Annotation• Fact or Opinion• Frame of Reference• Cornell Notes• Academic Notes• Key Concept Synthesis• KWLC• Vocabulary Squares• Literature Circle• Writing Prompt

Lexile Workshops Objectives:

1. Use Lexiles as a reading measurement system

2. Profile students, predict comprehension, and match readers to text

3. Access and use online resources

4. Differentiate instruction for all readers

What are your goals for our session today?

• Discuss with your group what you hope to gain from today’s session on Lexiles.

• Work with folks at your table to create a list of expectations you want to have covered by the end of our time together today.

Be ready to share with the group.

1. Arizona2. Arkansas3. California4. Georgia5. Illinois6. Kansas7. Mississippi8. Missouri9. Nevada10. New Mexico11. North Carolina12. Oklahoma13. Oregon14. South Carolina15. Texas16. Virginia17. West Virginia18. Wyoming

States Linked to the Lexile Framework

Norm-Referenced Assessments Linked to the Lexile Framework

Formative AssessmentsLinked to the Lexile Framework

Formative AssessmentsLinked to the Lexile Framework

Reading ProgramsLinked to the Lexile Framework

Subscriptive Web ResourcesLinked to the Lexile Framework

Where are Lexile measures found?

• All major norm-referenced tests are linked

• Over 28 million students received a Lexile measure last school year

• Over 450 publishers• Nearly 115,000 book titles to search

at www.lexile.com• Over 100 million Lexiled articles

Where can I find the Lexile measure?

• A student’s Lexile measure can be found on the individual student report of the Criterion-Referenced Test in Reading (CRCT) for grades 1 – 8 and the Georgia High School Test in English Language Arts (GHSGT) for grade 11.

• More information on a student’s Lexile measure based on the CRCT and GHSGT scale score is available on the Georgia Department of Education’s Web site at:– www.public.k12.ga.us/lexile.aspx

Where can I find the Lexile measure?

Where can I find the Lexile measure?

The Lexile Framework for Reading: A Frame of Reference

220L400L

490L

The Lexile Framework for Reading:

A Frame of Reference

780L

660L

560L

The Lexile Framework for Reading:

A Frame of Reference

1000L

970L

870L

The Lexile Framework for Reading:

A Frame of Reference

1280L

1240L1130L

The Lexile Framework for Reading:

A Frame of Reference

1530L1440L

1350L

The Lexile Framework for Reading:

A Frame of Reference

1620L

1650L

1690L

Georgia’s Lexile Map

Georgia’s Lexile Map

Georgia’s Lexile Map

The Lexile Framework is NOT:

• A reading program

• A test or method of assessment

• Educational software

The Lexile Framework for Reading is:

• An educational tool that links text and readers under a common metric – the Lexile.

• A tool to allow educators to forecast the level of comprehension a reader may be expected to experience when reading a particular text.

• A commonly used reading measure:– Over 28 million students receive Lexile scores

through commercial and state assessments.– Over 100,000 books and tens of millions of articles

have Lexile measures.

Why The Lexile Framework?

• LINK reader to text under a common measure

• FORECAST levels of comprehension

• TRACK growth over time

Activity: Current Practices

In your group, discuss each of the following:

How do you determine the reading levels of students in your classes?

How is text selected to support instruction? How do you plan for:

*remediation*enrichment

Be ready to discuss with the group.

Points to RememberHow high does theLexile scale go?

How low does theLexile scale go?

Points to Remember

• Lexile measures typically range from below 200L for beginning readers to above 1700L for advanced readers.

• Text below 200L represents beginning-reading material. A student’s Lexile measure of 0L or below is coded BR, signifying ‘Beginning Reading’.

• The Lexile scale applies to both reader level and text difficulty.

Two Underlying Concepts

Text Readability

Reader Level

Text Characteristics that Influence Readability

• Syntactic Complexity– Sentence length is a powerful

indicator of the syntactic complexity of a piece of text because longer sentences typically contain more clauses and, therefore, more information.

– Longer sentences are more complex and require more short-term memory to process.

– In the Lexile Framework, the length of a sentence is used as proxy or indicator.

Text Characteristics that Influence Readability

• Semantic Difficulty– Semantic difficulty is the

probability that an individual will encounter a word in familiar text and thus be able to infer its meaning.

– Less familiar words impede reading fluency and affect comprehension.

– In the Lexile Framework, word frequency is the frequency of a word in MetaMetrics’ corpus of written text (which contains over 600 million words).

Analyzing Text Readability

• Read and examine

Camping is Fun.

• Easy or difficult

to read? Why?

We went camping. On Monday, we put up the tent. The tent fell down! On Tuesday, we hiked. It rained andwe got wet! On Wednesday, we fished. Uncle Pete caught a boot! On Thursday, we left food on the table. The raccoons ate it! On

Friday, wecooked marshmallows. They fell in the fire! On

Saturday, weheard a strange noise. We were too scared to sleep!On Sunday, we went home. "Did you like camping?" asked Uncle Pete. "Yes!" we said. "Camping is fun!"

Camping is Fun(M. Garcia)

We went camping. On Monday, we put up the tent. The tent fell down! On Tuesday, we hiked. It rained andwe got wet! On Wednesday, we fished. Uncle Pete caught a boot! On Thursday, we left food on the table. The raccoons ate it! On

Friday, wecooked marshmallows. They fell in the fire! On

Saturday, we heard a strange noise. We were too scared to sleep!On Sunday, we went home. "Did you like camping?" asked Uncle Pete. "Yes!" we said. "Camping is fun!"

Camping is Fun(M. Garcia)

200L

Analyzing Text Readability

• Read and examine The First Inaugural

Address of George Washington

• Difficult or easy to read? Why?

Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years--a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time.

First Inaugural Address of George Washington

Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years--a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time.

First Inaugural Address of George Washington

1880L

What Does It All Mean?

“My student has a measure of _____L.”

“What does this mean?”

Building Reading LevelMatched Text

• Practice reading skills with text a student can comprehend.

• A reader strengthens his or her level by reading matched text.

• As a reader’s level increases, the text level he or she can comprehend increases.

Why 75% Comprehension?

Research suggests that at 75%…• A reader can have a successful reading experience

without frustration or boredom• A reader can achieve “functional comprehension” of

the text• A reader will be sufficiently challenged (by vocabulary

and syntax) to improve

75% is the “right amount of challenge”

Managing Comprehension

• Readers may experience frustration when…– Text readability is 100L+ above their Lexile

level.• Readers may experience ease when…

– Text readability is 50-100L below their Lexile level.

• Readers may experience growth when…– Text readability is within their Lexile range.

General Reading Recommendation: Targeted text range of 100L below to 50L above

the student’s Lexile levelNote: This range may vary based on text type, reading context and purpose,

reading strategies and support, and reader motivation.

Expected Comprehension Rates

ReaderAbility

Sports Illustrated Readability Lexile

ExpectedSuccess

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1000L

1000L

1000L

1000L

1000L

25%

50%

75%

90%

96%

The Lexile Framework & Differentiation How can I increase learning/growth

for all students?

– Matched text

– Scaffolding

– Accessible instructions

– Tiered reading assignments

Using Lexiles to create Grouping Opportunities:

– Ability Groups

– Interest Groups

– Experts

– Literature Circles, Book Clubs

– Research Clubs

Lexiles & the Content Areas

For Example:Using our Book Database, targeted text can be found for

aunit on The United States Constitution: Books: Lexile Measure:

US Constitution 250LThe Constitution 430LCreation of the US Constitution 620LShaping the Constitution 690LBill of Rights 710LShh! We’re Writing the Constitution 950LThe Constitution 1020LCreating the Constitution 1120LSpirit of the Constitution 1200L

Using Lexiles in Science classes…Using our Book Database, targeted text can be found for a

unit on: DNA Books: Lexile Measure:

Amazing DNA 650LUncovering the Structure of DNA 690LCloning and Genetic Engineering 790LGenetic Engineering, DNA, and Cloning 930LDNA 990LHigh-Tech Harvest: A Look at Genetically Engineered Food 1200LUnraveling DNA: The Most Important Molecule of Life 1240LDNA and Destiny: Nature and Nurture in Human Behavior 1460LThe Professor, the Institute, and DNA 1510L

Another Example …Using our Book Database, targeted text can be found for a

unit on: Ecosystems Books: Lexile Measure:

Inside Ecosystems and Biomes 700L

Exploring Ecosystems with Max Axiom, Super Scientist 750LEarth’s Ecosystems IG810LEcosystems 860LPopulations and Ecosystems 880LBiomes and Ecosystems 970LThe Eastern Forest 1010LThe Deserts of the Southwest 1080LThe Prairie 1140LEndangered Species 1160L

Concept Density

• Importance?

• Complete?

• Prior Knowledge?

Benefit of using Lexiles:

• Used to measure a student’s current “size” and growth over time

• Not grade specific

Points to Remember

What are the benefitsof the Lexile

Framework?

Why Lexiles? Features & Benefits:

School Level:• Track growth

• Accurate classification and management of materials and textbooks

• Well-informed, data-driven instructional decisions

• Accurate communication with parents

Why Lexiles? Features & Benefits:

Classroom Level:• Targeted

instruction• Link to

standardized tests• Actionable across

content areas• Provides additional

resources

Why Lexiles? Features & Benefits:Student Level:

• Measure their own growth

• Match themselves to appropriate text

• Engender a love of reading

Why Lexiles? Features & Benefits:Parents:• Nonjudgmental way of

communicating a student’s reading ability

• Enables meaningful parent participation (targeted reading lists)

How do Lexiles Measure Text Readability?

Points to Remember

Are there characteristics

the Lexile Frameworkdoes not address?

Limitations of Lexile measuresWhat Lexile text measures do not address

Text Characteristics– Age-appropriateness of

the content

– Text support (e.g., pictures, pull-outs)

– Text quality (i.e., Is it a good book?)

Reader Characteristics

– Interest and motivation

– Background knowledge

– Reading context and purpose

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

necessary.

Points to Remember:

“Should I let mystudent read a bookoutside his Lexilerange?”

Points to Remember:

“Won’t the Lexile Framework prevent my student from reading on topics in which they’re interested?”

Points to Remember

Can I use Lexiles toreduce summer

learningloss or supplementinstruction

throughoutthe year?

• Entwisle, Alexander and Olson (1997)• Random sample of 800 Baltimore public school

students.• Children from families of high- and low-Socio-

Economic Status made equivalent gains on math and reading during the school year.

• Achievement of students from low-income families either fell or stagnated during summer.

Summer Learning Research

By the end of 5th grade, low-income children are approximately 2.5 years behind their more affluent peers in reading ability, primarily because of summer learning loss.

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, 66(3), 227-268. EJ 596 384.

Summer Learning Research• James S. Kim (2006)

• Project READS randomized field trial

• Low-income students made summer gains when reading materials were:– In students’ selected

areas) of interest– Reader level and text

difficulty were matched using Lexiles

• Gains comparable to those made in summer school.

Reading Lists: One Size Does NOT Fit All!

•They don’t cover enough of the ability range for a grade

•They are organized alphabetically rather than by text difficulty or theme

•Their length intimidates reluctant readers

•They don’t include summaries, page counts, or book cover images

•They don’t take an individual reader’s interests into account

What are they doing about summer

reading in Durham County, NC

Summer reading in Durham County, NC

• Year 1 (2007): Partnership and awareness• Year 2 (2008): Awareness and early

adopter programs• Year 3 (2009): Sky’s the limit

Lexiles transition students from school to public library

“Bright Ideas” cable TV spot

Durham READS pilot program

• February: met with principals and educators• March: research permission; corporate funding• May: surveyed student interests• June: reading tests; school ends; book fair• July & August: select and mail books and

postcards• September: reading tests; celebrations• October: research analysis and lessons learned

90 rising 4th- and 5th-grade struggling and reluctant readers receive 8 free, high-interest, Lexile-targeted books

Durham READS pilot program

The students who participated either maintained their ability or grew a little

(and they’re smiling about reading)

Reading Habits:Best Practices

Communicating with Students and Parents

• Ranges are more important than a single number

• Give examples

• Demonstrate how to help

• Talk more about growth than status

Points to Remember

“How often should my child read?”

Read whenever possible.

You can help make this happen.

Good Reading Habits:Make Reading a Part of Life

If a text is relevant to a child’s life, he or she will want to read it, and will find a way to read it.

“Hey, would

you read that

recipe to me

while I cook,

please?”

“I’m not sure about that. Find an article online to convince me.”

“Look, here’s a

review in the

newspaper of that

movie you’ve been

wanting to see.”

Good Reading Habits:Discuss What Children Read

The analytical skills used in discussion are what your child needs for reading tests, not to mention in life.

“If the book was a TV show, which actors would you cast in it?”

“Where does the novel take place? Would you want to take a trip there?”

“If the main character in that story lived next door, would you guys be friends?”

Why Does Reading Matter?

What are the text demands

of the post-secondaryworld?

Relationship between Time Spent Reading and Reading Achievement

from Anderson et al., 1988, Table 3, N = 155. Reading material included books, magazines, and newspapers.

Fifth-Grade Students

Percentile Rank

Minutes of Text Reading

per Day

Estimated Number of Words

Read per Year

989070502010

67.333.316.99.22.41.0

4,733,0002,357,0001,168,000601,000134,00051,000

College Reading Remediation Rates Entering Freshmen, 2000

All 11%Public 2-year 20%Public 4-year 6%Private 4-year

5%

Source: NCES, Remedial Education at Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions in Fall 2000,

U.S. Department of Education

Lexiles and Life After Graduation: “Student Readiness for Postsecondary Options” Gary Williamson, Ph.D. (2004)

Median Text Measures: 11th/12th grade (LA/SS textbooks): 1090L Military (training/field manuals): 1180L Citizenship (newspapers, voting, jury): 1230L Workplace (Daggett study materials): 1260L Postsecondary - first two yrs (textbooks): 1355L

– GED Test Materials: 1060L– SAT/ACT Test Materials: 1180L

Postsecondary Options

Box Plots for Selected Text Collections That Informthe Transition from High School to Postsecondary Experience

(Percentiles: 5th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 95th)

600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

High School (11-12)(n=23)

SAT I, ACT, AP(n=20)

Military (n=22)

Citizenship(n=54)

Workplace(n=1401)

Community College(n=50)

University (13-14)(n=100)

Graduate Record Exam(n=8)

Text

Collecti

on

s

Lexile Text Measures

Lexiles and The News

• USA Today• Wall Street Journal• New York Times • Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • Reuters • Associated Press

Lexiles and The News

• USA Today (1200L)• Associated Press (1310L)• Chicago Tribune (1310L)• Wall Street Journal (1320L)• Washington Post (1350L)• NY Times (1380L)• Reuters (1440L)

Lexiles and International News• Japan: Japan Times

• Saudi Arabia: Arab News

• China: China Daily

• Russia: The Moscow Times

• India: Times of India

• Chile: Santiago Times

• France: France Daily

Lexiles and International News

• India: Times of India (1340L) • Japan: Japan Times (1350L)• Saudi Arabia: Arab News (1370L)• Chile: Santiago Times (1380L) • China: China Daily (1400L) • Russia: The Moscow Times (1400L)• France: France Daily (1400L)

Lexiles and Lifelong Reading

• Federal Tax Form W-4 • Aetna Health Care Discount Form• GM Protection Plan• Medical Insurance Benefit Package• Application for Student Loan• CD-DVD Player Instructions • Installing Your Child Safety Seat• Microsoft Windows User Manual

Lexiles and Lifelong Reading

• CD-DVD Player Instructions (1080L)• GM Protection Plan (1150L)• Microsoft Windows User Manual (1150L)• Installing Your Child Safety Seat (1170L)• Federal Tax Form W-4 (1260L)• Application for Student Loan (1270)• Medical Insurance Benefit Package

(1280L)• Aetna Health Care Discount Form (1360L)

Lexiles can empower…Teachers:

– Differentiate instruction– Match text to student

Students: – Connect to accessible text– Monitor and celebrate

their own growth

Families: – Participate in child’s

development

Two Minute Pause

Take a moment to reflect.

Think about what we have covered andour efforts to explain the framework.

What questions, comments, or insights doyou have?

Resources to Help Implement The Lexile Framework in the

Classroom Located at www.Lexile.com

www.Lexile.com

Practice the FREE Lexile Tools at www.lexile.com

• Lexile Find A Book

• Lexile Analyzer

• Lexile Calculator

Activity

Predict a Lexile• Think about three

books your students recently read or a few of your favorite books.

• What do you think the Lexile measure for each of the books is?

• Check the Lexile Find A Book Database.

The Lexile Codes Illustrated Glossary (IG) Non-conforming Text (NC)

Inconsistent with the developmental appropriateness of the text

Beginning Reading (BR) Lexile measure of zero or below

Non-prose Text (NP) Poems, plays, songs, and books in which punctuation is

absent or used unconventionally Adult-directed Text (AD)

Designed to be read to or with readers Graphic Novel (GN)

The text of these books is largely in voice or thought bubbles that are integrated into comic book-style illustrations

               

Activity

Using Find-A-Book Louisa has a Lexile

measure of 1000L and has just completed 7th grade. She is able to read grade appropriate material with ease. Her interests fall to adventure, history, and science. Use Find-A-Book to create an appropriate reading list for Louisa. Are any of the titles in a library near you?

Tools - Lexile Calculator

Activity

Using the Calculator Sean has a Lexile measure of 950L. Whatis his comprehension rate for the followingtexts: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (Carson

McCullers) Wise Blood (Flannery O’Connor) Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone (JK

Rowling) 1984 (George Orwell) Twilight (Stephanie Meyer)

Tools - Lexile Analyzer

The Lexile Analyzer

The Lexile Analyzer

Highlight the entire article

Copy the article

The Lexile AnalyzerOpen a Word

document

The Lexile Analyzer

Paste the text into the Word

document

The Lexile Analyzer

Remove titles, pictures, graphs,

illustrations, captions, sub-headings, and

bylines

The Lexile Analyzer

Be sure to remove

hyper-links

The Lexile Analyzer

Here’s text that has

been edited for the Lexile

Analyzer

The Lexile Analyzer

Be sure to save as ‘Plain

Text’

Steps to analyze:

Copy text into MS document

Save Text as:

Two Steps:

Step # 1

Step # 2

and “Allow character…”

Click Submit:

Results:

Activity

Analyze an Article• Select an article • Copy it!• Paste it into MS Word• EDIT out pictures, titles,

hyperlinks• Leave only text• SAVE on your Desktop as

PLAIN TEXT

• Analyze the article

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

GeorgiaStandards.Org

Lexiled Classroom Resources

Galileo

Party Politics – 630L

Jefferson had been away for five years. Now he was to help govern the brand-new United States. At this point, everything was a big experiment. No one was quite sure how things should work.

Jefferson took his place among President Washington's cabinet, or group of advisers. It consisted of only four men. Jefferson was secretary of state, and Alexander Hamilton was secretary of the treasury. There was also a secretary of war and an attorney general. Jefferson's old friend John Adams was the vice president.

Jefferson and Hamilton fought from the start. Hamilton believed in a strong national government. Jefferson thought power belonged with the states and the people. Hamilton liked to help businessmen and bankers, while Jefferson favored helping farmers and craftspeople. Hamilton was friendly toward Britain because it was good for trade. Jefferson liked France because it had gone through a revolution like America's. Both men had many supporters in Congress.

Soon there were two clear camps — Federalists and Republicans. Hamilton's supporters were the Federalists. Jefferson's supporters were the Republicans, later called the Democratic-Republicans. This was the beginning of the nation's political party system.

1796: The First Real Election – 1320L

The first signs of such factionalism appeared early in Washington's presidency. On one side were the Federalists who yearned for an American society and national government established on the British model. Skeptical of the growing democratization of the new nation, the Federalists desired a centralized national government that would have the strength both to aid merchants and manufacturers and to safeguard America's traditional hierarchical society.

By 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Congressman James Madison--both, like Washington, from Virginia--had taken steps to fashion an opposition party. Jefferson became the acknowledged leader of the new Anti-Federalists, a group soon known as the Democratic-Republican Party because of its empathy for the struggling republic that had emerged from the French Revolution of 1789. This party looked irreverently upon the past, was devoted to republican institutions, sought to give property-owning citizens greater control over their lives, and dreamt of an agrarian nation in which government would be small and weak. …

The activity of the Republicans threw a scare into the Federalism. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, the acknowledged leader of the Federalists…

Lexile Resources• MAS Ultra• Middle Search Plus• Primary Search (low level articles)• Topic Search• Book Collection• Student Research Center • Searchasaurus• History Reference Center• Kid’s Search• NoveList K-8• SIRS Discover

Activity:

Differentiating with Web Resources• Log on to Galileo.• Search on a topic of interest to you.• Locate 2-3 articles on the same topic at

different readability levels.• Remember: utilize the search tips from

Galileo to execute an effective search.• Remember: for the purpose of this

exercise, confine your search to Lexile-linked databases.

Activity:

Differentiating InstructionBuilding A Targeted Text Planner In your packet you will find a

template for a targeted text planner. Within your group, select a topic of your choice and use Galileo to develop a targeted text list for a typical range of Lexile measures found in your classroom.

Lexiles In Action, Part 2

Science Resources Social Studies Resources Math Resources ELA Resources CTAE Resources Task Suggestions

Contact Information

1.888.LEXILES(1.888.539.4537)

www.Lexile.com Jason Turner: jturner@lexile.com