Saddleback Adds Lexile® Measures to Hi-Lo Materials
Reading Measure Matches Struggling Learners with Level-Appropriate Books
Durham, N.C. — April 13, 2011 — MetaMetrics®, developer of The Lexile® Framework for Reading, and Saddleback Educational Publishing are adding Lexile measures to Saddleback’s high-interest curriculum materials for struggling learners.
Saddleback’s high-interest, low-readability books are designed for students of all ages who struggle with reading and/or learning in general. The publisher’s award-winning materials help students at lower reading levels find enjoyment in reading by targeting their interests and school assignments to books at the right level for their ability and goals.
“We strive to provide educators with the finest quality curriculum materials,” said Tim McHugh, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Saddleback Educational Publishing. “The addition of Lexile measures to our hi-lo books offers educators valuable information for matching students with resources that will best support positive reading experiences and the development of important comprehension skills.”
Saddleback publishes some of the most popular hi-lo books for struggling readers, including the “21st Century Life Skills” and “Urban Underground” series. Those titles that have been assigned Lexile measures are now available in MetaMetrics’ free “Find a Book” search utility (www.lexile.com/findabook), which allows educators and parents to build custom reading lists for students of all ages and ability levels.
“We applaud Saddleback for recognizing the unique value that Lexile measures offer in helping readers at all levels improve their literacy skills,” said MetaMetrics President and co-founder Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. “Regardless of their next steps in life, it’s important that all students understand the reading demands of their future academic and professional pursuits and start preparing themselves now for success.”
The Lexile Framework measures text complexity based on word frequency and sentence length. Once these factors are determined, MetaMetrics uses a proprietary scientific equation to assign a Lexile measure to the text, ranging from below 200L for beginning-reader text to above 1600L for more advanced text.
The Lexile Framework is a unique educational tool for accurately matching readers with text. Unlike other measurement systems, the Lexile Framework evaluates student reading ability and growth based on actual assessments, rather than generalized age or grade levels. Lexile measures help teachers, librarians and parents find books, articles and other materials that are within a student’s recommended Lexile range: 100L below to 50L above his or her Lexile measure. Reading materials within this optimal Lexile range will challenge the student’s reading ability, while still maintaining interest and learning. Recognized as the most widely used reading metric, more than 30 million Lexile measures are reported annually from reading assessments and programs, representing over half of U.S. students.
For more information on the Lexile Framework and to search for books by Lexile measure, visitwww.Lexile.com. Additional information on Saddleback is available at www.sdlback.com.
About Saddleback Educational Publishing
Saddleback Educational Publishing was established in 1982 as a distributor of educational books, media and software through direct mail catalogs. Saddleback offers thousands of High Interest Curriculum Materials for grades K–12, adult, ESL and at-risk students. Our broad selection includes award-winning paperback books, reproducibles, read-alongs, videos, textbooks, workbooks, software and more. In addition to distribution, Saddleback now publishes its own product line with consistent fall and spring publication schedules. For more information, visit www.sdlback.com.
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics (www.MetaMetricsInc.com), an educational measurement and research organization, develops scientific measures of student achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment with targeted instruction to improve learning. Our renowned psychometric team created the widely adopted Lexile Framework for Reading (www.Lexile.com); El Sistema Lexile para Leer, the Spanish-language version of the reading framework; The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics (www.Quantiles.com); and The Lexile Framework for Writing. In addition to licensing Lexile and Quantile measures to state departments of education, testing and instructional companies, and publishers, we offer professional development, resource measurement and customized consulting services. Connect with us at http://blog.lexile.com.