Reading is essential for continual learning and career readiness. Dedicated reading instruction occurs in the elementary grades, but there is little formal instruction at the secondary level. Subject teachers must be aware of student reading levels when assigning student work. Students with low reading comprehension often struggle in secondary subjects; this is particularly a challenge for CTE teachers. Teaching reading in the content area improves students’ reading proficiency, and CTE teachers must incorporate reading and vocabulary strategies into their instruction. Reading achievement data can help teachers determine when it is critical to use these strategies. In addition, teachers should use data to select reading assignments and adjust planned instruction.
Teachers must know their students' reading levels to select challenging texts appropriately. If the material is much lower reading than the students, they become bored and won’t be challenged to improve their skills. A more common problem is assigning texts that are far above the reading level of many students, who then fail to grasp the content and become disengaged and discouraged. Many teachers observe the symptoms of this mismatch between reading assignments and student proficiency levels but don't know what to do about it. Obtaining and using reading data systematically can guide decisions and actions.
Lexile Reading Measures
One of the best open---source measures of reading is MetaMetrics’ Lexile Framework™ for Reading , which can be used to standardize the reading level of materials and students. The Lexile Framework for Reading places both the reader and text on the same developmental scale, which ranges from 200L to 2000L (Lexiles). Lexiles can help teachers identify textbooks and other materials that are at the appropriate reading level for students. Like other reading metrics, Lexile measures the syntactic and semantic complexity of the text. Lexile is unique, however, in providing a uniform scale that stretches from beginning readers to adulthood.
Many books, particularly textbooks, indicate the Lexile level on the copyright page. MetaMetrics® maintains an online database of analyzed texts, which teachers can search by title or author to locate the Lexile level of a book. The database can also be searched by subject and by Lexile level to locate texts at a desired reading level. For magazines and online publications, most library databases include Lexile levels of publications. For publications and other texts that are not in a database, there is an online text analyzer in which to paste a representative portion of text to determine the reading level.
Lexile Student Measure
A teacher can identify a student's Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program. MetaMetrics partners with state departments of education and test publishers to create assessments or to link to existing assessments that can report students' reading scores as Lexile measures. Your school or district may already have given students a reading test that reports results in Lexiles. If your school still needs to get student reading levels in Lexiles, frequently, you only need to ask. If actual test scores are unavailable, another way to approximate student reading levels is to look up the titles of a few books that students read effectively and other titles they need help with. Then look for texts that fall in between to find the approximate student reading level.
Research by MetaMetrics has identified the range of typical reading levels of students by grade level, as shown in the following table. This also may help you in determining the reading level of students.
The Lexile levels for entry-level reading requirements in various career areas are listed below. Reading is an important skill not only for succeeding in school but also for succeeding in work and life. Teachers can make their instruction more relevant by impressing upon students the importance of reading in school regarding career readiness. The data in this table can help students to understand the reading expectations they will encounter beyond school. For example, a student who desires to work in law enforcement must read above a median of 1420 to understand reading materials connected with that occupation. This gives students a quantifiable reading goal related to career aspirations.
Metametrics Lexile identifies the reading of careers in a database. This tool allows the selection of any of the 16 Career Clusters and specific SOC Job codes to reveal entry-level reading Lexile measure ranges, national and regional career information, and additional career descriptions. Use this convenient information with students to impress upon them the reading level they need for their chosen career. Lexile measures are the only metric available to compare and describe the reading demands of various careers.
Reading Strategies
Matching reading assignments to students' reading levels does not mean lowering expectations. Occasionally, when assigning informational reading, teachers can substitute an alternative reading assignment. But often, there will be a text that all students must master. In these instances, if you identify significant gaps between the Lexile level of the text and the average reading level of your students, there are dozens of pre-reading and post-reading strategies that help increase students’ comprehension of difficult text.
The following key strategies summarize the steps for using data to plan reading instruction for your students.
- Identify the current reading proficiency levels in Lexiles of your students, both averages and ranges.
- Ascertain the Lexile reading level of materials you use in instruction.
- Determine the Lexile target reading levels for your grade level to be on track for college and career readiness or entry-level positions in various career clusters.
- Discuss with students their current reading proficiency and goals.
- Adjust reading materials to address the significant difference in student reading levels.
- Use pre-reading and post-reading strategies to increase comprehension when students tackle difficult reading passages.
Addressing the Problem of Different Student Reading Levels?
Reading is essential for continual learning and career readiness. Dedicated reading instruction occurs in the elementary grades, but there is little formal instruction at the secondary level. Subject teachers must be aware of student reading levels when assigning student work. Students with low reading comprehension often struggle in secondary subjects; this is particularly a challenge for CTE teachers. Teaching reading in the content area improves students’ reading proficiency, and CTE teachers must incorporate reading and vocabulary strategies into their instruction. Reading achievement data can help teachers determine when it is critical to use these strategies. In addition, teachers should use data to select reading assignments and adjust planned instruction.
Teachers must know their students' reading levels to select challenging texts appropriately. If the material is much lower reading than the students, they become bored and won’t be challenged to improve their skills. A more common problem is assigning texts that are far above the reading level of many students, who then fail to grasp the content and become disengaged and discouraged. Many teachers observe the symptoms of this mismatch between reading assignments and student proficiency levels but don't know what to do about it. Obtaining and using reading data systematically can guide decisions and actions.
Lexile Reading Measures
One of the best open---source measures of reading is MetaMetrics’ Lexile Framework™ for Reading (https://metametricsinc.com), which can be used to standardize the reading level of materials and students. The Lexile Framework for Reading places both the reader and text on the same developmental scale, which ranges from 200L to 2000L (Lexiles). Lexiles can help teachers identify textbooks and other materials that are at the appropriate reading level for students. Like other reading metrics, Lexile measures the syntactic and semantic complexity of the text. Lexile is unique, however, in providing a uniform scale that stretches from beginning readers to adulthood.
Many books, particularly textbooks, indicate the Lexile level on the copyright page. MetaMetrics® maintains an online database of analyzed texts (https://lexile.com), which teachers can search by title or author to locate the Lexile level of a book. The database can also be searched by subject and by Lexile level to locate texts at a desired reading level. For magazines and online publications, most library databases include Lexile levels of publications. For publications and other texts that are not in a database, there is an online text analyzer in which to paste a representative portion of text. To determine the reading level.
Lexile Student Measure
A teacher can identify a student's Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program. MetaMetrics partners with state departments of education and test publishers to create assessments or to link to existing assessments that can report students' reading scores as Lexile measures. Your school or district may already have given students a reading test that reports results in Lexiles. If your school still needs to get student reading levels in Lexiles, frequently, you only need to ask. If actual test scores are not available, another way to approximate student reading levels is to look up the titles of a few books that students read effectively and other titles they need help with. Then look for texts that fall in between to find the approximate student reading level.
Research by MetaMetrics has identified the range of typical reading levels of students by grade level, as shown in Table 1. This also may help you in determining the reading level of students.
The Lexile levels for entry---level reading requirements in various career areas are listed below. Reading is an important skill not only for succeeding in school but also for succeeding in work and life. Teachers can make their instruction more relevant by impressing upon students the importance of reading in school regarding career readiness. The data in this table can help students to understand the reading expectations they will encounter beyond school. For example, a student who expresses a desire to work in law enforcement needs to read above a median of 1420 to understand reading materials connected with that occupation. This gives students a quantifiable reading goal related to career aspirations.
https://hub.lexile.com/lexile-career-database
Metametrics Lexile identifies the reading of careers in a database. This tool allows the selection of any of the 16 Career Clusters and specific SOC Job codes to reveal entry-level reading Lexile measure ranges, national and regional career information, and additional career descriptions. Use this convenient information with students to impress upon them the reading level they need for their chosen career. Lexile measures are the only metric available to compare and describe the reading demands of various careers.
Reading Strategies
Matching reading assignments to students' reading levels does not mean lowering expectations. Occasionally, when assigning informational reading, teachers may be able to substitute an alternative reading assignment. But often, there will be a text that all students must master. In these instances, if you identify significant gaps between the Lexile level of the text and the average reading level of your students, there are dozens of pre---reading and post---reading strategies that help increase students’ comprehension of difficult text.
The following chart summarizes the steps for using data to plan reading instruction for your students.
Reading is essential for continual learning and career readiness. Dedicated reading instruction occurs in the elementary grades, but there is little formal instruction at the secondary level. Subject teachers must be aware of student reading levels when assigning student work. Students with low reading comprehension often struggle in secondary subjects; this is particularly a challenge for CTE teachers. Teaching reading in the content area improves students’ reading proficiency, and CTE teachers must incorporate reading and vocabulary strategies into their instruction. Reading achievement data can help teachers determine when it is critical to use these strategies. In addition, teachers should use data to select reading assignments and adjust planned instruction.
Teachers must know their students' reading levels to select challenging texts appropriately. If the material is much lower reading than the students, they become bored and won’t be challenged to improve their skills. A more common problem is assigning texts that are far above the reading level of many students, who then fail to grasp the content and become disengaged and discouraged. Many teachers observe the symptoms of this mismatch between reading assignments and student proficiency levels but don't know what to do about it. Obtaining and using reading data systematically can guide decisions and actions.
Lexile Reading Measures
One of the best open---source measures of reading is MetaMetrics’ Lexile Framework™ for Reading, which can be used to standardize the reading level of materials and students. The Lexile Framework for Reading places both the reader and text on the same developmental scale, which ranges from 200L to 2000L (Lexiles). Lexiles can help teachers identify textbooks and other materials that are at the appropriate reading level for students. Like other reading metrics, Lexile measures the syntactic and semantic complexity of the text. Lexile is unique, however, in providing a uniform scale that stretches from beginning readers to adulthood.
Many books, particularly textbooks, indicate the Lexile level on the copyright page. MetaMetrics® maintains an online database of analyzed texts (https://lexile.com), which teachers can search by title or author to locate the Lexile level of a book. The database can also be searched by subject and by Lexile level to locate texts at a desired reading level. For magazines and online publications, most library databases include Lexile levels of publications. For publications and other texts that are not in a database, there is an online text analyzer in which to paste a representative portion of text to determine the reading level.
Lexile Student Measure
A teacher can identify a student's Lexile reader measure from a reading test or program. MetaMetrics partners with state departments of education and test publishers to create assessments or to link to existing assessments that can report students' reading scores as Lexile measures. Your school or district may already have given students a reading test that reports results in Lexiles. If your school still needs to get student reading levels in Lexiles, frequently, you only need to ask. If actual test scores are unavailable, another way to approximate student reading levels is to look up the titles of a few books that students read effectively and other titles they need help with. Then look for texts that fall in between to find the approximate student reading level.
Research by MetaMetrics has identified the range of typical reading levels of students by grade level, as shown in the following table. This also may help you in determining the reading level of students.
The Lexile levels for entry-level reading requirements in various career areas are listed below. Reading is an important skill not only for succeeding in school but also for succeeding in work and life. Teachers can make their instruction more relevant by impressing upon students the importance of reading in school regarding career readiness. The data in this table can help students to understand the reading expectations they will encounter beyond school. For example, a student who desires to work in law enforcement needs to read above a median of 1420 to understand reading materials connected with that occupation. This gives students a quantifiable reading goal related to career aspirations.
Metametrics Lexile identifies the reading of careers in a database. This tool allows the selection of any of the 16 Career Clusters and specific SOC Job codes to reveal entry-level reading Lexile measure ranges, national and regional career information, and additional career descriptions. You can use this convenient information with students to impress upon them the reading level they need for their chosen career. Lexile measures are the only metric available to compare and describe the reading demands of various careers.
Reading Strategies
Matching reading assignments to students' reading levels does not mean lowering expectations. Occasionally, when assigning informational reading, teachers may be able to substitute an alternative reading assignment. But often, there will be a text that all students must master. In these instances, if you identify significant gaps between the Lexile level of the text and the average reading level of your students, there are dozens of pre---reading and post---reading strategies that help increase students’ comprehension of difficult text.
The following key ideas summarize the steps for using data to plan reading instruction for your students.
- Identify the current reading proficiency levels in the Lexiles of your students, both averages and ranges.
- Ascertain the Lexile reading level of materials you use in instruction.
- Determine the Lexile target reading levels for your grade level to be on track for college and career readiness or entry-level positions in various career clusters.
- Discuss with students their current reading proficiency and goals.
- Adjust reading materials to address the significant difference in student reading levels.
- Use pre- and post-reading strategies to increase comprehension when students tackle difficult reading passages.
