Lexiles can also be derived from AR quiz information and STAR test
data, I believe, so you can level both books and get student levels. We
don't use the Lexile data specifically but having the books and the
students leveled using the same formula is one of the best things I
like about AR. You just can't depend on the levels that publishers put
on the paperbacks as each seem to use their own form of reading level.
Wouldn't it be nice if they would all change to Lexiles level and be
consistent?
Before AR I never knew where my K-4 students were reading. They would
want a book they could read, but all they could tell me was they were
in the bluebird group in their classroom reading group! Come to think
of it, Lexile levels would be great on the publisher's reading
textbooks also. I have gone through our Houghton Mifflin literature
based reading series and made lists for the teachers of what the AR
levels are for the stories in each of the books at each grade level. We
were extremely surprised at how wide spread the levels are for each
grade. Beginning 1st graders had books that were leveled at almost
level 4! The teachers realized why the kids were having so much
difficulty with those stories. They knew they were hard, but not how
hard. (I see that AR now has quiz sets available for many of the newer
reading adoptions. Ours is too old for them to have done.)
If you are using RC you could probably do the same.
Barb Engvall
Teacher-Librarian
John Campbell Elem
Selah, WA
macbarb@charter.net
http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/JC/jc.cfm
On Jul 9, 2004, at 2:11 PM, Sandra McLeroy wrote:
> Kudos Jim!
> I too was surprised by the negative views. The national push is for our
> students to work at higher levels. To do this they must truly
> understand
> everything they read. Too many so called reading programs just focus on
> the sounding of words without delving into real comprehension. Too many
> of our students read just to count the number of books they have "read"
> without true meaning.
>
> Lexiles deal with both semantic difficulty AND syntax complexity.
> Educational leaders such as Willard Daggett are proponents of using
> lexile ratings. I encourage everyone to investigate Lexies thoroughly.
> Textbooks are going to have Lexile ratings in the very near future.
>
> I have seen a comparison list of all of the "tests" students take with
> the lexile ratings. Our state exit exams are the lowest of all. Even
> the
> test for getting into the military is sever hundred points higher than
> our state tests. Among the highest lexile rankings by test are things
> like MCAT and LCAT....
> Sandra McLeroy, Library Technology Specialist
> ESC Region 6
> Huntsville, TX
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: School Library Media & Network Communications
> [mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Debbie Hall
> Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2004 10:17 PM
> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Target: Positive spin on the use of Lexiles
>
>
> Our district is looking into using Lexile data to help students who are
> = not reading on grade level. I shared some of the e-mails from thread
> on = Lexiles with our Library Department Manager, Mr. Jim Hundemer.
> Most of = the comments that I shared were fairly negative. Mr. Hundemer
> asked that = I share his viewpoint with you.=20
>
> A Response to Target: Lexiles
>
> =20
>
> On a recent visit to one of our high school libraries I was visiting =
> with the librarian and she related to me the following incident. A =
> young man had finished his assignment and had his head down on the
> table
> = so she went over to the shelves, selected a book she thought might =
> interest him and gave it to him to read. He opened the book and began
> =
> to read. About 10 minutes later he threw the book across the room and
> =
> walked out of the library and left the campus. The next day she saw
> the
> = student and asked him what "that" was all about. He said, "You gave
> me = book I can't read." The student was a junior and she had given
> him
> a = book that she felt any high school student could read and was a
> popular = title. She later discovered that he is reading at the 5th
> grade level. = She also found out this student had been abandoned by
> his
> mother and was = sleeping on the streets. This is just one of the
> realities facing an = urban school system that challenges our
> librarians. =20
>
> =20
>
> I asked the librarian later about how she found out about the reading =
> levels of her students and of the over 2,500 kids on her campus, how =
> many of them did she know. She said that she would know if she worked
> =
> on a project with the student or the teacher shared the information if
> =
> the teacher knew it. She said that she only knew the reading levels of
> = the students that used the library on a regular basis, and that =
> represented only about a fourth of all students.
>
> =20
>
> This got me wondering how serious a problem this might be so I
> contacted
> = the "best of the best" librarians in my district, elementary, middle,
> = and high school, and asked if they knew the reading levels of their =
> students. Even librarians with 500 students at an elementary school =
> said that they knew maybe half of the students reading levels. All =
> shared that there were many students that were not reading anything =
> especially in middle and high school. We have severe academic =
> deficiencies in this large, urban school system and the data clearly =
> points to poor reading skills. In talking with teachers, they face =
> reading levels all across the board and they indicated having reading =
> level data for all of their students would be very helpful.
>
> =20
>
> I determined to do something about this and the first task is to get =
> reading levels for 212,000 students. The best way is to use a test
> that
> = all of our students had taken and that is the SAT 10 test. I will =
> receive lexile scores for every student in the district. I am =
> challenging all of my librarians to know the reading level of every =
> child in their buildings, and to help them select books that are =
> appropriate and on a subject that interests them. I am really
> concerned
> = about students that are not reading anything. If a student is a
> reader = I don't care what he or she is reading. There should be no
> restrictions. = Test/Don't test-that is not the focus. Further, I am
> working to = automate the entire process so librarians don't have to
> label any book = in the library. The student lexile information will
> be
> in the student = record of the library automation system that we use.
> I
> am also working = with our automation vendor to match lexiled books
> with
> lexile scores of = our children. The student will put in their student
> I.D. and click on = "Give Me Five Books" or something like that, and
> seamlessly the books = will appear on the screen. The books will be at
> lexile level, above and = below. If he or she doesn't like the
> selection, the student can ask for = another group to look at. I want
> to challenge all of my librarians to = ensure that every child in our
> system is reading and to help them become = better readers. The
> librarian will become the true partner with the = principal and the
> staff to improve reading on the campus for ALL = children. Too many
> children are dropping through the cracks and nobody = is doing any
> thing
> about it.=20
>
> =20
>
> Now, why lexiles. Our state has adopted the use of lexiles as a
> measure
> = determined from the results of our statewide test, the TAKS. I refer
> you = to the Texas Education Agency's website and the letter of
> endorsement = from Deputy Commissioner, Susan Barnes. So with the state
> signed on it = seemed logical to continue with lexiles. I looked at
> the
> website for = lexiles, www.lexile.com, and it made it very clear that
> the Lexile = Framework has been designed to determine the degree to
> which a reader = can access the text-it places a reader and text on the
> same scale. The = website further states, "The student's interests,
> parental views on what = constitutes age-appropriate material and
> teacher's instructional aims = are also vital issues in managing a
> reader's growth." Lexiles are just = another tool to help with the
> reading experience. The various grade = levels that are assigned refer
> to text demand at each level, not what is = recommended for each grade,
> and gives me and 276 libraries, staffed by = almost 300 librarians, a
> way to get a handle on this and help all of our = students. The whole
> idea is to make our readers better readers, to get = our non readers
> reading, and to help librarians make a better match for = those
> students
> that need the help. In the future, I look forward to our = students
> having lexiled databases and textbooks as additional resources.
>
> =20
>
> So if you are a librarian in a school district where everyone is
> reading
> = don't stop doing anything you are doing. Just buy more books.
>
> =20
>
> Jim Hundemer
>
> Manager,
>
> Library Services
>
> Houston Independent School District
>
> jhundeme@houstonisd.org
>
>
>
> Deborah A. Hall
> Library Technology Supervisor
> Houston ISD
> debhall@swbell.net
> http://www.hisdlibraryservices.org
>
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