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!

Two problems I've found with Lexile. On Lexile.com, one title will have several different lexile scores. Some are attributable to it being abridged or edited, but not all - why? Second, Lexile doesn't seem to take into account older language or older sentence style. For example, Pride and Prejudice comes in at 770, but Harry Potter is 880-1080. Never mind the content or if it would be interesting to a child, you hand those two books to a kid, have them read a couple pages and ask them which is easier to understand. Which do you think is the easier read (if you've read both). My DS11 was gloating about his good reading (1490L) so I gave him Jane Austen and said, "Read this". He struggled through a few pages and I reminded him one can always get better at reading.

When Ds was 8 in 3rd grade - 965...I was just looking at this the other day, you can start building your chart
He's tested MG, Verbal.

It 'looked' to fall around 8th grade, but I figured this was perhaps an exaggeration since that did not seem MG to me...

From Hoagies: All about reading levels

Another link:
http://www.lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/grade-equivalent-chart/

Hi Dottie, 6th grade makes more sense, and I was just about to inquire about the charts, but I see OhG has posted them - thanks!

Ok, these look the same as I was reading earlier...maybe my logic is off?

Grade Reader Measures Text Measures
1 Up to 300L 200L to 400L
2 140L to 500L 300L to 500L
3 330L to 700L 500L to 700L
4 445L to 810L 650L to 850L
5 565L to 910L 750L to 950L
6 665L to 1000L 850L to 1050L
7 735L to 1065L 950L to 1075L
8 805L to 1100L 1000L to 1100L
9 855L to 1165L 1050L to 1150L
10 905L to 1195L 1100L to 1200L
11 and 12 940L to 1210L 1100L to 1300L

Here's how I came up with 8th grade from 965


Grade Reader level
6th 665L to 1000L > reader level with range of 335 points,
divided 335 by 2, get 167.5, add that back to 665, get about 832.
Since this was lower than 965, I figured I'd do the same until
the 'middle' of the range was closest to 965.

7th - the middle of the range is 900
8th - the middle of the range is 952 <--
9th - the middle of the range is 1010

Dottie et al, I am sure my 'statistics' comprehension is likely inadequate, so please let me know what I might be doing wrong on this..thanks!
(also my computation could be suspect, too, lol!)

Here's what's great about Lexile levels--you can combine it with other reading level measures, like the ones on the Scholastic site, and come up with books appropriate for younger kids but that have more complex language. For example, a book that has a reading level of 3.9 but a Lexile level of 900 is going to be more challenging to an advanced reader than one with the same reading level but with a Lexile level of 400.