Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment STAR Reading and Lexile Scores

Hi - I am a new member here but I think I may have found a community that can help me! My first grade daughter just got these results on her report card:

In September, scaled STAR reading score of 847; lexile 1095L
In January, scaled STAR reading score of 942; lexile 1210L.

We know she is a great reader, but not sure how we deal with such high scores? Any help interpreting these and any advice will be appreciated!

Thanks,
Rich

Welcome!

Some information on the meaning of lexiles:

https://lexile.com/about-lexile/grade-equivalent/grade-equivalent-chart/

Note that there are no official grade equivalents for lexiles. These two charts (or three, if you count the second one as two) describe normative performance, not grade-level standards or expectations. IOW, the first chart tells you where the middle 50% of students in each grade level score on the lexile system in standardization studies. The second chart tells you where a selection of supposedly grade-level text scored in text complexity studies based on the lexile system. The range in student populations is noticeably lower than the range of what is considered grade-level text.

Either way, her lexile suggests that she is comprehending at a high school level--though one should keep in mind that, as much as the STAR is an adaptive test, with a grade one start point, her score is probably not as reliable as a score nearer the grade-level mean would be, so probably no need to search for adult reading level selections for her. (Obviously, one can still conclude that she is an exceptionally strong reader!)

Hello there!

While it's easy to get caught up in Lexile scores (particularly for the emerging reader), in my opinion they kind of cease to be useful once the child is fluent. Basically what those scores indicate is that she can read pretty much understand whatever she wants to read. However, it absolutely does not mean that she should only be reading books with the highest Lexile scores. Here is an article that sums up why this is so: http://leaguewriters.blogspot.com/2012/10/how-lexile-system-harms-students.html

So how do you deal with such high scores? Help her pick out books which she finds interesting, which fit what she can handle emotionally, and which may simply be fun.

Best of luck!