Award-winning Listenwise will be the first ed-tech company to use the new listening framework to help students build critical literacy skills
BOSTON – January 30, 2020 – Today at LearnLaunch 2020, MetaMetrics® unveiled the Lexile Framework® for Listening, leveraging the power of the Lexile® scale to develop better listeners and readers. The Lexile Framework for Listening measures both the listening ability level of students and audio complexity of resources so students can be matched to ability-appropriate audio materials.
In addition, the company announced Listenwise, an award-winning, listening-skills building company, is its inaugural partner for implementing the new framework. Listenwise curates the best of NPR programming and other podcasts for the classroom, providing teachers with content that exposes students to stories and current events with relevance across disciplines. Listenwise podcast lessons will soon include Lexile audio measures for each story to ensure that students are connected with passages of appropriate complexity that target their listening comprehension skills.
“Research shows that better listeners are better readers. With today’s launch of the Lexile Framework for Listening, our scientific, objective scale will provide teachers, parents and states with a true picture of a student’s literacy by measuring reading and listening together,” said Alistair Van Moere, Ph.D., MetaMetrics’ chief product officer. “It is exciting to have Listenwise, a pioneer in harnessing the power of listening to advance student literacy and learning, as our first partner to link the framework to its audio resources.”
Developing strong communications skills, particularly listening abilities, is critical for success in school, college and careers. According to a 2017 study by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC), when hiring for mid-level positions, corporate recruiters consider communications skills the most important, with listening as the second-highest ranked.
“I founded Listenwise to inspire individuals to fulfill their potential through the power of listening,” said Founder and CEO Monica Brady-Myerov. “With the new Lexile Framework for Listening, teachers will have a better understanding of the connection between students’ reading and listening comprehension abilities, accelerating the development of these critical communications skills.”
Listenwise users are already expressing enthusiasm for the integration of the new Lexile listening measures into the platform. Jim Bentley, fifth grade teacher in Elk Grove District in California, said, “Finding the right level audio for your students is essential. It’s like finding the right shoe or glove that fits. These new Lexile listening measures will make it easy for me to find the right fit to challenge my students to listen to more complex topics and content in order to stretch their comprehension levels. I can see it making an impact on how we teach listening skills.”
The Lexile Framework for Listening is based on the same foundation of academic research and scientific rigor that has validated MetaMetrics’ assessment items over the last 35 years. To develop this new Lexile Framework, MetaMetrics worked in partnership with Listenwise, Achieve3000, DaDaTeach Away and Tales2go, Inc. to conduct field studies with more than 17,000 domestic and international students in grades 1-12.
About Listenwise
Listenwise is an award-winning listening comprehension platform. We harness the power of listening to advance literacy and learning in all students starting in second grade. Our collection of Lexile-leveled podcasts keeps teaching connected to the real world and builds students’ listening skills at the same time. The curriculum-aligned podcasts are paired with learning tools and listening comprehension assessments to transform them into rigorous academic content. Students are motivated by the interesting real-world stories, and Listenwise provides the literacy supports and tools for differentiating instruction necessary for diverse classrooms including ELs and reluctant readers. Find more information at: listenwise.com
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is an award-winning education technology organization that offers the only scientifically valid, universal scales for measuring reading and listening (Lexile) and math (Quantile) with plans to develop measures for oral reading fluency and writing. 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.