Creator of the Lexile® Framework for Reading announces inaugural partners for our new decodable content measurement service.
San Diego, CA – April 18, 2023 – Today at the 2023 ASU-GSV Summit, MetaMetrics, creator of the Lexile® Framework for Reading, announced the release of a first-of-its kind, research-based measurement service that provides specific analysis of sound, spelling and syllable information in books for students learning to read. Coming at a critical time for post-pandemic learning recovery, decodability information of analyzed books is available through a public-facing online tool called Lexile® Find a Decodable Book to help teachers and families find books that align to letter sounds/combinations students are learning in the classroom.
Lexile® Decodability Analysis launches with 14 publishers and authors who have signed on as inaugural partners and are in the process of having their books analyzed to receive decodability information. Once analyzed, their titles will be added to Find a Decodable Book. These partners are 3P Learning, Accelerate Learning, Annick Press, Bearport Publishing, The Child’s World, Crabtree Publishing, Daffodil Hill Press, Flying Start Books, Jump!, Lerner Publishing, Ready Reader Decodables, Sue Marasciulo, Teacher Created Materials and Whole Phonics.
“With the shift to science of reading and the adoption of new reading curricula, we believe that having our decodable books analyzed by MetaMetrics will make it easier for educators to find the appropriate titles to support each student’s reading development,” said Laura Villano, VP of Sales & Marketing at Bearport Publishing.
The new decodability measurement service empowers authors, publishers and instructional content developers with specific data about the decodable words used in books down to the individual spelling and letter sound. MetaMetrics’ proprietary engine mapped the graphemes and phonemes of most words in the English language and is part of the Lexile Certification and Decodability Report that customers receive.
“We need to support our earliest readers, especially now after so many of our youngest students missed foundational school years during the pandemic. Studies show that nearly two-thirds of third grade students are not reading on grade level,” explains Malbert Smith, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of MetaMetrics, Inc. “The new decodability analysis gives writers and publishers the specific phonics information they need to position their books in the most supportive manner for educators and parents.”
Created by MetaMetrics’ team of foundational literacy experts, data scientists and machine learning engineers, the Decodability Report provides unprecedented detail including frequency of individual vowels (like short “a”) or number of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) combinations. Books measured for decodability also receive a Lexile measure, which describes the difficulty of the text and can extend to the beginning reader level of BR400L.
Neena Saha, Ph.D., Research Advisor, spearheaded the development of the new analysis starting in 2021 when her foundational literacy company was acquired by MetaMetrics. Saha is creator of the popular, “Reading Research Recap” email newsletter, blog and video series.
“Research continues to prove that explicit phonics instruction is necessary to unlock reading for most students and this new analysis is aligned with the Science of Reading movement. This decodability information can align to any curricular scope and sequence, making it an invaluable resource for educators,” says Saha.
Working with decodable authors, Saha also guided the launch of Lexile® Decodable Passages, a resource to access online passages students can read to practice specific phonic skills, available with a premium membership to the Lexile® and Quantile® Hub or free for teachers in MetaMetrics’ partner states.
Decodability analysis is part of MetaMetrics’ suite of content measurement services that include measures to support the Lexile® Framework for Reading, the Lexile® Framework for Oral Reading, the Lexile® Framework for Listening, and the Quantile® Framework for Mathematics. Spanish content can also be measured and is supported by El Sistema Lexile® para Leer framework. These measures provide information about the difficulty of content so that educators and parents can find appropriately challenging materials for students who receive measures through school assessments.
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is an award-winning education technology organization that offers the only scientifically valid, universal scales for measuring silent and oral reading and listening (Lexile) and math (Quantile). The Lexile and Quantile Frameworks measure student ability and the complexity of the content they encounter. Lexile and Quantile measures and related technologies link assessment to instruction and provide next steps for students of all ages and abilities. The measures also provide valuable insights about students’ potential for growth. MetaMetrics’ measures, products and services are licensed to dozens of education product companies to help achieve that growth. For 35 years, MetaMetrics’ work has been increasingly recognized for its research-based approach to improving learning. For more information, visit MetaMetricsInc.com.