LEXILES EXPLAINED
(IN LESS THAN 20 MINUTES)
Jennine Bloomquist
October 23, 2014
The Lexile
 Developed by MetaMetrics, based on research funded
by National Institute for Child Health Development
(NICHD)
 An educational tool that links readers AND texts under
a common designation known as Lexiles.
 Allows educators to forecast the level of
comprehension a reader is expected to experience
with a particular text.
 Most commonly used reading measure:
 Over 19 million students receive Lexile scores
through commercial/state assessments
 Over 100,000 books and tens of millions of
articles have Lexile measures
Lexiles are based upon
 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.
Student Lexiles vs Book Lexiles
A student’s Lexile measure is a tool
 to use in targeting reading material
for students
A book’s Lexile measure is a tool
 for measuring the difficulty of a
particular text for a particular
student
Who Provides
Student Lexile Measures?
A Student’s Lexile Measure
It is recommended that readers
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.
Using Lexiles
 Match a student’s reading ability with the
difficulty of text material by using Lexiles
 A student’s Lexile is interpreted as the level
of book that a student can read with 75%
comprehension
 75% comprehension has been identified as
“offering the reader a certain amount of
comfort and yet still offer a challenge”
Lexile Codes (Books only)
Sometimes a Lexile measure by itself is not enough information to
choose a particular book for a particular reader. This is why some books
get Lexile codes (for example, AD580L).
 AD: Adult Directed
 BR: Beginning Reader
 Only code that applies to both readers and text
 HL: High-Low
 Generally young adult
 IG: Illustrated Guide
 Usually non-fiction and reference
 GN: Graphic Novel
 NP: Non-Prose
 Do NOT get a Lexile Measure, only a Lexile Code
 NC: Non-Conforming
 Useful to match high-ability students with developmentally
appropriate materials
Limitations of Lexile Measures
Lexile text measures do NOT address
Text Characteristics
– Age-appropriateness of
the content
– Text support (e.g., pictures, pullouts)
Reader Characteristics
– Interest and motivation
– Background knowledge
– Reading context and purpose
– Text quality (i.e., Is it a good book?)
 Lexile text measures only measure text readability.
 Input from readers, parents, teachers and librarians is necessary.
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)
WHY DOES ALL THIS MATTER?
Grade Band
K-1
2-3
4-5
6-8
9-10
11-CCR
“Stretch” Lexile Band
N/A
420-820L
740-1010L
925L-1185L
1050L-1335L
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.
Want more information?
Arrington, Marty. Teaching Students to Use Lexiles School Library Monthly,
Sept/Oct 2012 v 29 #1 p 37
Beyond the Classroom
Georgia Lexile Presentation Sept 2014
Guide to Reading Levels: demystifying computerized reading programs
How Will the Ed-Tech Industry Shape Student Reading?
Jack Stenner: the Lexile King
The Lexile Framework as an Approach for Reading Measurement and Success
Malbert Smith III, Phd: President, Metametrics
NYS Common Core Appendix A
Statistics in Brief: 1st Year Remedial Course-taking 2000, 2004, 2008
The Story is More Important than the Words: a portrait of a reader-focused library
program
Helpful Tools
Metametrics
Levelit App for Apple and Android
Don’t forget your online catalog and electronic databases!
Comparison of Reading Levels
https://www.leveledreader.com/docs/Leveling_Guide.pdf
Slides that didn’t make it into the
presentation
Lexiles and the Common Core
Students should be ready for college and
career after high school.
The most important factor for readiness is a
student’s ability to read and understand
texts of steadily increasing complexity as
they progress through school.
The Lexile® Framework provides insight into
student readiness by measuring both the
complexity of reading materials and a
student's ability to comprehend these texts.
Changes in Textbook Complexity
College and Career Readiness Skills
“Furthermore, 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
College Remediation Rates
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:
– SAT/ACT Test Materials:
1060L
1180L