There are many strands woven into the rope of skilled reading. And at least five more pillars have been added to the initial five pillars of scientific reading instruction reported by the National Reading Panel in 2001. That’s a lot of strands, pillars and scientific evidence to consider. Who has the time? Certainly not a classroom teacher helping to personalize reading for 26 students and wondering if precocious third-grade Addison is emotionally ready to read “Where the Red Fern Grows.”
In this blog, we’ll simplify but avoid one-rule “leveling” edicts.
Let’s start at the beginning. Why Lexile measures?
The Lexile Framework® for Reading is a tool that can help provide students with access to books at their ability level. Lexile® measures target a comfortable reading level that encourages growth without frustration. When a text’s measure matches a student’s measure, the student should not be frustrated by losing the meaning-thread of the text, but should encounter new vocabulary and sentence structures that promote growth in reading.
Students encounter frustration when they lose the text’s meaning because the vocabulary is too difficult, the sentence structure is too complex or a host of other factors. It doesn’t take too many blanks in a sentence before a student loses meaning – and interest. After too many frustrating experiences, a student needs to be coaxed into picking up a book. That is tragic because one of the best predictors of future academic achievement and life success is reading ability – or being an engaged reader – in the early grades.
One-rule “leveling” edicts and why they’re doomed to fail students.
Lexile measures can help initiate the student-to-book matching process, but they should not define the focus or be the only consideration in matching students with books.
To do so denies the science outlining three foundational factors undergirding text complexity reflected in college-and career-ready standards:
- Quantitative factors. The Lexile Framework is a quantitative, objective system that places both students’ reading ability and text complexity on the same scale.
- Qualitative factors about the student or text.
- Qualitative factors about the student include things like:
- Students’ interests. Lexile Find a Book (Hub.Lexile.com/find-a-book) allows students to search for books by Lexile measure and interests.
- Students’ motivation. Books above a reader’s Lexile range can stimulate growth when the topic/genre/series is of high interest.
- Students’ tolerance for frustration. Struggling and reluctant readers can use Lexile measures to find easier books on topics they’re interested in or for required reading.
- Students’ age or background, maturity or developmental level.
- Qualitative factors about the text include things like:
- Complexity of the ideas and themes.
- Maturity of the storyline.
- Style aspects of language.
- Quality of the content.
- Text supports such as accompanying pictures found in graphic novels and children’s books.
- Qualitative factors about the student include things like:
- Reader/task purpose for reading, which varies widely – assignment, pleasure, discovery, research.
The Lexile Framework is not an instructional program any more than a thermometer is a medical treatment. But just as a thermometer is useful in informing medical care, the Lexile Framework is useful in informing a student’s reading development. It’s informative, not determinative.
So, is Addison ready to read “Where the Red Fern Grows”? After all, she has a student Lexile measure of 700L, the same as the book. That depends. Spoiler alert: The dogs in the story die. Applying qualitative judgment that considers the storyline and Addison’s personal capacity along with the purpose for reading involves an educator, a librarian, a parent – someone to make sure that the student is firmly seated on the three-legged stool of well-considered text complexity factors.