Kentucky Department of Education

The Lexile® Framework for Reading evaluates reading ability and text complexity on the same developmental scale. When an assessment is linked with the Lexile Framework, students’ test scores immediately become actionable. 

 

Developed by MetaMetrics in Durham, North Carolina, The Lexile Framework is based on more than 20 years of research funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The distinct approach to measuring readers and texts has resulted in Lexile adoptions by departments of education in nearly half the states and school districts in all 50 states.

More information about the Lexile Framework can be found at Lexile.com.

A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the complexity of a text, like a book or magazine article. Lexile measures also forecast how well a reader will comprehend a text. Recognized as the standard for matching readers with texts, tens of millions of students worldwide receive a Lexile measure that helps them find targeted readings from more than 100 million articles, books and websites that have been measured.

There are two Lexile® measures: the Lexile reader measure and the Lexile text measure. A Lexile reader measure represents a person’s reading ability on the Lexile scale. A Lexile text measure represents the complexity of a text on the Lexile scale. When used together, Lexile measures help a reader choose a book or other reading material that is at an appropriate level of complexity and can predict how well a reader will likely comprehend a text at a specific Lexile level. For example, if a reader has a Lexile measure of 1000L, he will be forecasted to comprehend approximately 75 percent of a book with the same Lexile measure (1000L). The 75-percent comprehension rate is called “targeted” reading.

Today, Lexile measures are recognized as the most widely used reading metric. Lexile measures connect learners of all ages with resources at the right level of challenge and can monitor their progress toward state and national learning standards. Lexile measures range from below 200L for emergent readers and text to above 1600L for advanced readers and text.

Lexile Measures in Kentucky

Students in grades 3-8 will receive a Lexile measure from the Kentucky K-PREP Tests of English Language Arts. 

 

Additionally, local school systems may access over 50 popular reading assessments and programs that report out Lexile measures. Click here for a complete list.

Students, parents and educators can access Lexile-measured texts through the Kentucky Virtual Library. The State Library Online Database provides access to an abundance of online newspaper and magazine articles that match readers’ Lexile range.

Using Lexile Measures to Assess College and Career Readiness

The goal of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is to ensure that students are ready for college and career after high school. Lexile measures were included as one of the quantitative measures of text complexity in the Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/ Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects.  An important factor for readiness is a student’s ability to read and understand texts of steadily increasing complexity as he or she progresses through school. The Lexile Framework provides valuable insights into student readiness by measuring both the complexity of college and career texts and a student’s ability to comprehend these texts.

The Common Core State Standards Initiative offers the following overlapping Lexile bands (or Lexile ranges, as defined by Common Core) to place texts in the following text complexity grade bands.

Lexile Text Ranges to Guide Reading for College and Careers