Currently, over 75 A+nyWhere Learning System® (A+LS™) titles have Lexile® measures, allowing a
reader (with a known Lexile measure) to be matched to the appropriate lesson content.
Overview
 What is The Lexile Framework® for Reading?
How does it work?
Why is it important?
How will Lexile measures improve learning for students?
Which A+LS™ courseware titles have Lexile measures?
Useful tools on www.Lexile.com
What is The Lexile Framework® for Reading?
The Lexile Framework for Reading provides a common, developmental scale for matching reader ability and text
difficulty. Lexile measures enable educators, parents, and students to select targeted materials that can improve
reading skills and to monitor reading growth across the curriculum, in the library, and at home. Recognized as the
most widely adopted reading measure, Lexile measures are part of reading and testing programs in the classroom and
at the district and state levels.
The Lexile Framework was developed after 20 years of research by MetaMetrics®, Inc., a privately held educational
measurement company based in Durham, N.C. The company’s research was initially funded with grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Today, MetaMetrics continues to pioneer scientifically
based measures of student achievement that link assessment with instruction, foster better educational practices, and
improve learning by connecting students with instructional materials that meet and challenge their abilities.
How does it work?
The Lexile Framework for Reading is a scientific approach to measuring reading ability and the difficulty of reading materials.
It includes a Lexile measure and the Lexile scale. A Lexile measures both the difficulty of a text, such as a book, and an
individual’s reading ability. Lexile measures are expressed as numbers, followed by an “L” (e.g., 850L) and are placed on
the Lexile scale. The Lexile scale ranges from below 200L for beginning readers and beginning-reader text to above
1700L for advanced readers and text. Lexile text measures are based on two factors: word frequency (semantic
difficulty) and sentence length (syntactic complexity). About 28 million Lexile reader measures are reported annually
from state and national assessments, classroom assessments, and reading programs. When used together, Lexile
reader measures and Lexile text measures enable educators, parents, and students to find level-appropriate reading
materials from the more than 100,000 books and 80 million articles with Lexile measures.
Why is it important?
- Lexile measures do not require any additional software or hardware. A growing number of test, instructional programs, and book and article publishers have adopted Lexile measures. States and districts are not limited to a single supplier.
- Lexile measures use the same scale to measure both reading ability and text difficulty. This common scale allows for greater accuracy in matching readers with ability-appropriate texts.
- Lexile measures apply to everyday reading. A student’s Lexile measure is more than a test score. It applies to
books and articles that a student encounters daily – at school, home, and in the library – creating a strong school-home connection.
How will Lexile measures improve learning for students?
- Lexile measures tie day-to-day work in the classroom with critical high-stakes tests, which also report students’
reading scores as Lexile measures. This commonality allows for interim assessment and feedback while using the
same consistent measure. Lexile measures can be used to set learning goals, monitor and evaluate reading
programs, and track progress without additional testing.
- Lexile measures allow for managed comprehension. Matching a reader’s Lexile measure to a text with the
same Lexile measure leads to an expected 75-percent comprehension rate – not too difficult to be frustrating
but difficult enough to be challenging and to encourage reading progress.
- Over 450 publishers have Lexile measures for their titles. With a student’s Lexile measure, he/she can be
connected to tens of thousands of books (available at www.Lexile.com) and tens of millions of newspaper and
magazine articles (via periodical databases) that have Lexile measures.
- The Lexile Framework provides a clear, nonjudgmental way of communicating a student’s reading ability to
parents. Lexile measures allow parents to generate targeted reading lists, based on the student’s reading ability
and interests, for leisure and summer reading.
- Currently, over 75 A+nyWhere Learning System (A+LS) courseware titles have Lexile measures, allowing a
reader (with a known Lexile measure) to be matched to the appropriate lesson content.
Useful tools at www.Lexile.com
“Find a Book” with Lexiles enables users to build reading
lists based on Lexile range and personal interests and to
check the availability of books at their local library.
Lexile Analyzer® enables registered users to analyze text
and generate a Lexile measure. A free, limited version is
available at www.Lexile.com.
Lexile Book Database enables users to search for titles
among the more than 100,000 English and Spanish
fiction and nonfiction books with Lexile measures.
Lexile Calculator enables users to calculate text
comprehension at various Lexile measures.
Lexile Professional Development provides on-site and
regional workshops, online training, and customized
consulting to help educators and librarians implement Lexile measures in the classroom and library/media center.
Lexile Multiple Measures Calculator enables users
to estimate reading ability when two different Lexile
measures are received from assessments taken within
a month of each other.
Lexile Map provides a graphic representation of texts
matched to appropriate levels of reading ability.
Copyright © 2009 All rights reserved.
MetaMetrics, Lexile, Lexile Framework, Lexile Analyzer, and the Lexile symbol are trademarks or U.S. registered trademarks of MetaMetrics, Inc.
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LS™ and The Lexile Framework® for Reading
