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Debbie, =20 I read the response of the Library Department Manager and his story/concern= has merit. But.... I still believe that my (and every librarian's) time = is better spent collaborating with teachers and familiariing myself with = the students' abilities rather than leveling all of the books. It's my = job as a professional to know my collection and make sure that we have = materials available for all readers -- especially when it comes to making = sure we have materials that satisfy assignments for teachers' assignments. = =20 Coming from a classroom of 28 years to be a LMS, I knew my students' = abilities and asked the librarian to help some of my students locate the = "perfect" books for them. That's what I do now. My colleagues are great = and trust me to recommend appropriate materials. No student..... especially in high school.... should carry around a book = that marks that child as a poor or below grade level reader. If each of = us are doing our jobs, students will not have to be embarrassed by be = "marked" by their book choice! Readingly yours, Chris Christine L. Evans, librarian Library/Media Center Barrington Middle School - Station cevans@cusd220.lake.k12.il.us 847-381-0464 >>> Debbie Hall <debhall@SWBELL.NET> 07/09/04 15:17 PM >>> Our district is looking into using Lexile data to help students who are = =3D not reading on grade level. I shared some of the e-mails from thread on = =3D Lexiles with our Library Department Manager, Mr. Jim Hundemer. Most of = =3D the comments that I shared were fairly negative. Mr. Hundemer asked that = =3D I share his viewpoint with you.=3D20 A Response to Target: Lexiles =3D20 On a recent visit to one of our high school libraries I was visiting =3D with the librarian and she related to me the following incident. A =3D young man had finished his assignment and had his head down on the table = =3D so she went over to the shelves, selected a book she thought might =3D interest him and gave it to him to read. He opened the book and began =3D to read. About 10 minutes later he threw the book across the room and =3D walked out of the library and left the campus. The next day she saw the = =3D student and asked him what "that" was all about. He said, "You gave me = =3D book I can't read." The student was a junior and she had given him a =3D book that she felt any high school student could read and was a popular = =3D title. She later discovered that he is reading at the 5th grade level. = =3D She also found out this student had been abandoned by his mother and was = =3D sleeping on the streets. This is just one of the realities facing an =3D urban school system that challenges our librarians. =3D20 =3D20 I asked the librarian later about how she found out about the reading =3D levels of her students and of the over 2,500 kids on her campus, how =3D many of them did she know. She said that she would know if she worked =3D on a project with the student or the teacher shared the information if =3D the teacher knew it. She said that she only knew the reading levels of = =3D the students that used the library on a regular basis, and that =3D represented only about a fourth of all students. =3D20 This got me wondering how serious a problem this might be so I contacted = =3D the "best of the best" librarians in my district, elementary, middle, =3D and high school, and asked if they knew the reading levels of their =3D students. Even librarians with 500 students at an elementary school =3D said that they knew maybe half of the students reading levels. All =3D shared that there were many students that were not reading anything =3D especially in middle and high school. We have severe academic =3D deficiencies in this large, urban school system and the data clearly =3D points to poor reading skills. In talking with teachers, they face =3D reading levels all across the board and they indicated having reading =3D level data for all of their students would be very helpful. =3D20 I determined to do something about this and the first task is to get =3D reading levels for 212,000 students. The best way is to use a test that = =3D all of our students had taken and that is the SAT 10 test. I will =3D receive lexile scores for every student in the district. I am =3D challenging all of my librarians to know the reading level of every =3D child in their buildings, and to help them select books that are =3D appropriate and on a subject that interests them. I am really concerned = =3D about students that are not reading anything. If a student is a reader = =3D I don't care what he or she is reading. There should be no restrictions. = =3D Test/Don't test-that is not the focus. Further, I am working to =3D automate the entire process so librarians don't have to label any book =3D in the library. The student lexile information will be in the student =3D record of the library automation system that we use. I am also working = =3D with our automation vendor to match lexiled books with lexile scores of = =3D our children. The student will put in their student I.D. and click on =3D "Give Me Five Books" or something like that, and seamlessly the books =3D will appear on the screen. The books will be at lexile level, above and = =3D below. If he or she doesn't like the selection, the student can ask for = =3D another group to look at. I want to challenge all of my librarians to =3D ensure that every child in our system is reading and to help them become = =3D better readers. The librarian will become the true partner with the =3D principal and the staff to improve reading on the campus for ALL =3D children. Too many children are dropping through the cracks and nobody =3D is doing any thing about it.=3D20 =3D20 Now, why lexiles. Our state has adopted the use of lexiles as a measure = =3D determined from the results of our statewide test, the TAKS. I refer you = =3D to the Texas Education Agency's website and the letter of endorsement =3D from Deputy Commissioner, Susan Barnes. So with the state signed on it =3D seemed logical to continue with lexiles. I looked at the website for =3D lexiles, www.lexile.com, and it made it very clear that the Lexile =3D Framework has been designed to determine the degree to which a reader =3D can access the text-it places a reader and text on the same scale. The =3D website further states, "The student's interests, parental views on what = =3D constitutes age-appropriate material and teacher's instructional aims =3D are also vital issues in managing a reader's growth." Lexiles are just = =3D another tool to help with the reading experience. The various grade =3D levels that are assigned refer to text demand at each level, not what is = =3D recommended for each grade, and gives me and 276 libraries, staffed by =3D almost 300 librarians, a way to get a handle on this and help all of our = =3D students. The whole idea is to make our readers better readers, to get =3D our non readers reading, and to help librarians make a better match for = =3D those students that need the help. In the future, I look forward to our = =3D students having lexiled databases and textbooks as additional resources. =3D20 So if you are a librarian in a school district where everyone is reading = =3D don't stop doing anything you are doing. Just buy more books. =3D20 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 -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. 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