Lexile® Framework for Reading®

Overview

One important aspect of student success is the ability to read grade-level material. NWEA Reading assessments provide an accurate indication of a student's reading ability. Educators use this score, in conjunction with DesCartes, to identify appropriate reading instruction. Because districts can test up to four times a year, teachers can measure and monitor reading growth accurately throughout the year.

This report groups students by Lexile scores. By entering a keyword describing a student's interest, teachers can quickly create customized reading lists.

Along with reading scores, NWEA also reports Lexile scores. With its unique reading scale and set of corresponding tools, The Lexile Framework for Reading provides a means of measuring a student's reading level and growth. The framework helps educators and parents select reading materials that appropriately challenge students, thereby guiding the development of stronger reading skills. NWEA assessment reports, which include Lexile scores, enable teachers and parents to place individual students on the Lexile scale and take advantage of the tools within the Lexile Framework.

MetaMetrics, the developer of the Lexile Framework, maintains and shares a database that lists tens of thousands of books scored by difficulty level. Using the booklist tool, teachers can automatically create a customized reading list for each student. The resulting list includes reading materials that are based on a student's interest and reading ability. With the Lexile score they can be sure that reading materials are appropriate - not too easy, not too hard.

Features

NWEA Reading assessments and related classroom resources:

• Provide both a Lexile score and reading RIT scores.
• Allow teachers and parents to identify books and curriculum materials that are appropriately challenging for students.
• Leverage the Lexile Framework to match texts to a student's reading ability. Texts are evaluated for difficulty based on two parameters: word complexity and frequency, and sentence length.
• Maintain individualized student data year after year; educators can easily track the growth of a student's reading level over time.

Practical Application

NWEA reports a Lexile score for each student who takes an NWEA Reading test. With this score parents and teachers can:

• Identify a student's individual reading level.
• Match a learner's reading level with fiction, non-fiction, and instructional materials spanning thousands of books and millions of articles.
• Track a student's reading comprehension over time and set goals accordingly.
• Forecast whether a reader will be able to easily comprehend the material.
• Set and track goals for independent reading.
• Plan for disparities between student reading comprehension levels and the readability of assigned materials.
• Easily create customized reading lists for individual students.

FAQ

What is a Lexile?

The Lexile is a framework that ranks texts and reading abilities. Texts are evaluated for difficulty based on two parameters: word complexity and frequency, and sentence length.

Why does NWEA include Lexile scores?

These data are another source of information that NWEA encourages educators to use to help accelerate student growth. When students read texts that are appropriately challenging, they don't get frustrated or bored and are more likely to have a positive reading experience.

Do RIT and/or Lexile scores translate to Reading Counts, Renaissance or Accelerated Reader programs?

The Reading Counts program, published by Scholastic, uses Lexile scores and therefore translates easily. Accelerated Reader, published by Renaissance Learning, does not relate to either Lexile scores or the RIT scale.

Can a school library be organized to represent Lexile scoring configurations?

For aligning libraries to Lexile scores, MetaMetrics has provided this page on their web site.

How do Rasch Unit (RIT) scores and Lexile scores correlate?

The Lexile score is a linear transformation of the overall RIT score in Reading. Subtle differences in ranges for two students with the same RIT score may arise because RIT scores are rounded and Lexile scores are not.