What is a Lexile?
A Lexile is a unit that measures the amount of challenge presented by a passage of text. If we know the Lexile measure of a book and we know the Lexile measure of a child, we can tell how the book matches the child's reading ability—whether it's too easy, too difficult or just right.
The Lexile Framework® determines the difficulty of text by way of sophisticated software. The software uses a mathematical equation that looks at two factors:
- The difficulty of the vocabulary (semantic difficulty)
- The complexity of the sentences (syntactic complexity) throughout the entire book.
This information can be used to match students with books at their Lexile Level and in their interest areas. Reading at this 'target' level offers sufficient challenge without frustration.
How does The Lexile Framework® work?
The Lexile Framework®; is the only tool that measures text in two critical ways:
It's an easy 4-step cycle!
Step 1
Students take the Lexile Test and receive a Lexile Level
The Lexile test utilises a database of over 1600 multiple-choice questions ranging from lower primary to university level. The questions feature authentic fiction and nonfiction text passages, and no prior knowledge of the text is required. The program steps the questions up or down in difficulty, according to the child's responses.
Step 2
Students select and read books within their Lexile range. The Book Expert Database generates a list of suitable books to match each student's Lexile Level and their interests.
The Book Expert Database combines information about a student's Lexile, age and interests to generate an individualised reading list.
Step 3
Students complete motivational quizzes on the computer to check their comprehension.
After reading, students test their comprehension by taking a computer Quiz. Each quiz consists of ten multiple-choice questions randomly chosen from a bank of thirty. After students complete the Quiz, they receive immediate positive feedback.
There are around 2500 active computer Quizzes available at www.mylexile.com.au for books that are likely to be in your library.
In addition, you can purchase further Lexile Libraries and Quizzes.
Step 4
Approximately 90 days later students take another Lexile test to enable the teacher to monitor reading development.
The program then works with the student for the remainder of their primary schooling.