Association of Test Publishers
Tucson, Arizona
February 26-28, 2001
Lexile.com
a division of MetaMetrics, Inc.
www.lexile.com
How to contact us—

1-888-LEXILES
(1-888-539-4537)

www.lexile.com
Lexile.com
MetaMetrics SBIR Grant Awards
Awarding Agency: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Title of Grant
Grant Number
Grant Number
Development of a Construct
Measurement System for
Reading
Phase I—$50,000
HD 19448-01
(1984)
Development of a Construct
Measurement System for
Reading
Phase II—$498,000
HD 19448-02
(1986-1988)
A Construct Measurement
System for Listening
Comprehension
Phase I—$48,000
HD 19234-30
(1988-1989)
Construct Generalization:
A Meta-Analytic Tool
Phase I—$50,000
HD 25358-01
(1989)
Construct Generalization:
A Meta-Analytic Tool
Phase II—$500,000
HD 25358-02
(1994-1995)
Lexile.com
“Unification” in Science
Temperature
Time
Reading
1700
1890
2000
Lexile.com
The Three Components of the
Lexile Framework
The Lexile Map
The Lexile
Analyzer
Linking
Technology
®
™
Test
of
Reading
Comprehension
Lexile.com
Lexile.com
How are texts placed on the map?
Scan text
into electronic format
Edit Text
Examine Words
Examine Sentences
Calculate Lexile measure
Review text and Lexile measure
Lexile.com
How are readers placed on the
map?
Harcourt Brace
CTB/McGraw-Hill
Riverside
Scholastic
NWEA
NCDPI
Utah
TEA
SAT9
SDRT
MAT8
TerraNova Assessment Series
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test
SRI and SRI-Interactive
iRead
Achievement Level Item Bank
North Carolina End-of-Grade Test
[under development]
[under development]
Lexile.com
What is a non-proprietary standard?

How many ways can you place a
student on the scale?

How many publishers have adopted the
standard?

How many companies can participate in
a marketing presentation?
Lexile.com
A Report Card on the Unification of Reading
Book Distributors
Federal Initiatives
& Databases
Reading Excellence Act
Baker & Taylor, Ingram,
Follett, Booksource, Sundance,
RR Bowker*, Muze*
America Reads Challenge
School, Public Libraries
Follett Library Services
(Lexiles are in MARC Records, field 521),
MetaVue, Mackin, Sagebrush Technologies
Textbook Publishers
Houghton Mifflin, Harcourt School
Publishers, Glencoe McGraw-Hill, GlobeFearon, Holt, Scott Foresman
Test Publishers
Lexile
Measure
Prebinders
Permabound, Econoclad, DEMCO,
Booksource, Bound-To-Stay Bound,
Everbind*
Harcourt Educational Measurement,
CTB-McGraw-Hill, Riverside,
NWEA, North Carolina Dept. of Public
Instruction
Periodical Database
EBSCO, NoveList
Reading
Motivation
Publishers
Scholastic Reading Counts!,
Read 180, Success for All, HOSTS,
On-line Reader (EBSCO), Hooked on
Phonics
On the Internet
Scholastic, Rigby, Modern
N2H2, MediaSeek, 21st
Curriculum, Lee & Low,
Century Teachers, Family
Steck-Vaughn, Millbrook, Lerner, West,
Education Network, Edvision
Rosen, Crabtree, Dominee,
Pearson, Globe-Fearon, Holt,
Harcourt, Glencoe McGraw-Hill,
DK Publishing, Rand McNally, Scott Foresman,
Leapfrog, Hampton Brown, Troll, The Wright Group*
*denotes pending
Lexile.com
Connecting Readers to Books
Results
Lexile measure
Reach for Tomorrow
600L
Hedgehogs in the Hall
610L
Frida Maria: A Story of the Old Southwest
620L
Mystery on Stage, The
630L
Firehouse Mystery, The
640L
Art Lesson, The
650L
Winter
660L
Follow My Leader
670L
Look What Came From India
680L
Forgotten Filly, The
690L
Lexile.com
Thematic Book Search
Results
Lexile measure
Earth
810L
1000 Facts About Space
IG 870L
Enchantress from the Stars
910L
Astronomy Smart Junior
930L
Journey to the Planets
950L
Lexile.com
Connecting Text to Tests
Hedgehogs in the Hall
Item Calibration 670L
Mandy gasped. The bundle, about the size of a football, was in fact rocking and rolling
forward of its own accord. "Don't touch it!” she said. She pulled at James's sleeve.
She
James.
A
B
C
D
joined
called
warned
invited
Hedgehogs in the Hall
Item Calibration 520L
"You realize we have less than a week to set up this refuge!” Mandy told James. ”Simon
says we have to let them go as soon as they're ready, so they can hibernate through the
winter. The nights are already turning frosty!”
Mandy wanted to ______.
A
B
C
D
agree
hurry
sleep
leave
Lexile.com
Portrait of a 3rd-Grade Reader

What does
“on grade-level”
at third grade
mean?
Lexile.com
Last Grade Completed
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
Last Grade
Completed
•
•
Postgrad
BA
• Assoc +>2
•
•
•
• 10
• College<2
Vocational
HS+GED
11
•9
400
•
•
•7
•8
6
•
5
2+3+4
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
Reader measure (in Lexiles)
Data: National Adult Literacy Study (1992)
Lexile.com
1800
Job Level
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Current Job
•
•
•
•
scientist
•
accountant
teacher
executive
nurse
• supervisor
• sales
•
700
900
•
•
•
•
•
• secretary
foreman
clerk
craftsman
construction
service
labor
1100
1300
Reader measure (in Lexiles)
Data: National Adult Literacy Study (1992)
Lexile.com
1500
5.2
•$75,000 +
Current Salary
5
• $50,000-$74,999
Log Income
4.8
• $40,000-$49,999
4.6
•
4.4
•
4.2
4
•
•
•
$30,000-$39,999
$20,000-$29,999
$15,000-$19,999
$10,000-$14,999
$5,000-$9,999
3.8
700
800 900 1000
1100 1200
1300
Reader measure (in Lexiles)
Data: National Adult Literacy Study (1992)
Lexile.com
1400 1500
Literacy Demands of Various Adult
Roles





Workplace
Continuing Education
Citizenship
Moral, Ethical, and Legal
Entertainment
Lexile.com
Five Faces of Adult Literacy



Workplace
Continuing Education
1100L to 1400L
– Community College
– University
1100L to 1300L
1200L to 1400L
Citizenship (newspapers)
– USA Today
– New York Times

Morals, Ethics, Religion
–
–
–
–

1200L
1380L
The Bible: King James Version (revised)
Koran
Torah
The Book of Mormon (1830)
Entertainment (novels)
– Patricia Cornwell, All That Remains
– Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember
– Stephen King, Pet Sematary
Lexile.com
1400L
1500L
1500L
1150L
800L to 1000L
870L
1010L
970L
Newspaper/News Wire Lexile
Analysis
Source
Charlotte Observer
USA Today
Miami Herald
Associated Press
Chicago Tribune
Wall Street Journal
Los Angeles Times
Washington Post
New York Times
Number of Words
Lexile measure
109,389
111,067
104,562
112,601
111,830
173,927
109,367
116,057
118,043
1120L
1200L
1200L
1310L
1310L
1320L
1330L
1350L
1380L
Lexile.com
Anywhere, Anytime Assessment of
Reading Comprehension



General objectivity makes theory-based
item calibrations possible.
Software can evaluate candidate
sentences from any text base.
Software can choose foils that are the
same part of speech, but semantically
inappropriate.
Lexile.com
Anywhere, Anytime Assessment of
Reading Comprehension


Reader measures are expressed in
Lexiles, and, thus, are immediately
actionable.
Items become transient commodities,
thus, inverting the value equation in
testing.
Lexile.com
Single-Sentence Reading Items
It’s a ____________ to the job you did with him that he was able
to perform so well in class.
testament
prophecy
forgery
nomination
Suddenly the dog’s claws were scratching for ____________ on
the slick rock as it charged explosively in pursuit of the birds.
traction
manifold
recession
laconic
comatose
1220L
subsistence
With his carefully trained mind and eyes, Jonathan read
rapidly, assorting and assimilating information, lightly
underlining ____________ facts he wanted to refer to later.
cogent
920L
histrionic
Lexile.com
1530L
Workplace Applications





Text Environments
Reader measures
Forecasted Comprehension
Learnability and Learning Ability—
readiness for training
Information Processing—reading and
writing
Lexile.com
Multiple Measures on a
Common Metric

Life science and life cycle perspective

Growth trajectories
Lexile.com
Reading and Writing measured
in a common metric


Unifying the measurement of reading
and writing
Specifications for a writing assessment
Lexile.com