Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment why do the lexile levels I find online vary so?

I happened to be volunteering in DS7's class today and saw some paperwork showing my son's lexile reading level. I was curious as to what it means so did a google search, but every site shows the number as correlating to different "grade level". Some sites differ by more than 100 pts. Does it vary by state? Is there a standard?

His level was 10??-12?? (can't remember the exact numbers). Some sites show that as 6th grade level, while others show it as 9th or 10th.....

www.lexile.com is supposed to be the place to go for the 'real info', but the lexile scores overlap various grades a lot.
I am not even sure if a lexile level is the same as a lexile score, which I think we got for ds9.
I had this same question, I wanted a 'grade level' to match to the number I was seeing, but couldn't quite figure it out, I decided it was probably the one where my ds number was mostly in the middle of the range. (8th, but then this seemed way too high...ack)

Here is the link where I found the grade : lexile 'range' chart...
http://www.lexile.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?view=ed&tabindex=6&tabid=18

ps, ds' was just shy of 1000, iirc, so I'm not sure where 10-12 would come in, but perhaps those were the grade level equivalents? Did you see any 3 or 4 digit number?

the numbers were 4 digit, I just can't remember the exact numbers. Maybe 1095-1260.

I was just curious as to what that equated to...and all the info I googled seems vague.

Yes, that makes sense. One other issue is that it seems they didn't really design it to match kids reading ability to a grade level so much as to match reading ability ranges to books.

Lexile levels are now being assessed in our schools as well. I've spent a lot of time trying to make sense of them and have more questions than answers (for instance, is the Accelerated Reader lexile measured the same way as the Scholastic Reading Inventory lexile?). However, fwiw, I'll add the following:

There is a significant difference between the two scores in the range shared by kthompson. I was told that readers beyond 1,000 would probably increase only 50-100 pts per year (not sure that applies to gifties, but it at least suggests that the spread between 1095 and 1260 could represent as much as two years difference for a typical advanced reader).

As far as the usefulness of the score: I share the concerns about how books are rated. When content/idea is not figured into text difficulty, the rating is not very helpful in assessing book difficulty. There is no room in a lexile rating (from what I can see) for symbolism, unconventional narrative structures, etc. That said...I would say that from my limited observations of students who have tested for lexile, there is an accurate sorting of general ability and marked difference in the current skills of someone below 1,000 (a strong-proficient reader could finish elementary school around that lexile); the skills of an elementary aged reader over 1,000 (advanced for age at end of elementary school) and the current skills of students who are managing to test into the 1200-1350ish range (clearly outside the norm readers--I have only seen voracious readers who are--at least--moderately/highly gifted hitting this mark in elementary school). I've not yet seen a score above 1350 acheived by a child I know well as a reader (again, limited sample size so far, so I can't speak to anything beyond 1350). All of what I've shared is anecdotal "data", so take it with a grain of salt....

If anyone else has experience with lexile scores, I'm definitely looking for some "gifted norms" and would love to hear what kinds of scores are popping up for gifted readers in elementary school.

Taminy,
I was interested in your skill/lexile comparison. From MAP testing at the end of 1st grade, DD7 had a Lexile range of 729-879. I haven't gotten a score yet this year. Hope that helps give you another data point.

Kthompson,
It's lame how the Lexile info is presented. The Appendix of this report has a chart titled "Lexile Measures of Readers & Classroom Reading Materials." Unfortunately they only show middle 50% instead of standard norms up to 99%.
http://www.lexile.com/pdf/june%2016/KEYNOTE-Daggett_6.16.pdf

P.S. This part of the report may be useful too:

I should add that the categories I posited are based on lexile scores of 4th and 5th readers that I know fairly well. I haven't yet seen scores for younger students, thus my focus relative to end of elementary school.

You mention a lexile range. Is that how the MAP reports lexile? The SRI gives a single score. So I guess now I can broaden one of my questions: does MAP lexile equate to SRI lexile equate to AR lexile equate to.... ?

Sure wish the norm information was available. It seems to me that norm data would be much more informative than big, broad overlapping grade equivalent bands....

Hi, I just registered on this site to get more info on lexiles as well (reports just came out). My 10 year old's scores (taken this past spring of 4th grade) came back as 1455, which seems high for the looking around I've done. She's bright and loves to read, but certainly isn't interested in books in that range so I don't really know what to make of the Lexiles in general.

I tend to think that Lexile and AR ratings of books can be useful for approximating a level of difficulty for a book, but I'm dubious about them overall. Both systems rate Frank Herbert's Dune at a 5th grade level. I have, literally, no idea how they came up with this rating in such a complex work --- especially because it contains such a huge vocabulary of made-up words and so many "big" words.

These systems can be useful for generating a list of suggestions for reading, but I honestly don't see them as being terribly useful otherwise (I have sympathy for kids who have to read books inside their AR or Lexile levels). IMHO, some things don't lend themselves to being quantitated, and tastes in reading are among them. We adults sure can get some funny ideas about what's "good" for kids sometimes.

Val

I agree it's a rough tool and can't capture many of the nuances of reading. It doesn't provide much useful information about what I call "reading endurance." I consider DD7 a marathon reader and have to pry books out of her hands so she gets enough sleep. DD5 has a high reading level with good fluency and comprehension but is working on building her up her endurance.

Lexiles have been useful tools in busting DDs out of the grade-level reading boxes at school. It's an on-going reminder all first graders shouldn't be reading books aimed at first graders. I just wish there was a similar tool to help bust out of the grade level math boxes too!