Reflecting: The Lexile Framework

After reading "The Lexile Framework as an Approach for Reading Measurement and Success" in its entirety, I reflected on the knowledge I had gained about the Lexile system.

First, I think it is extremely important to realize that Lexile measurements are based solely on word frequency and sentence length, both of which are measured by a computerized system.  The Lexile system has no way of taking into account the age-appropriateness of a text, so Lexiles cannot be used to measure whether a text is too emotionally mature for a reader (or, inversely, far too simplistic).  Furthermore, the Lexile system does not take reader interest level into account at all.  Any experienced teacher knows that students are far more likely to "latch in" to high-interest texts, no matter the difficulty level.

In my own library, I often have students ask to check out books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  These books measure in the 900-1000L range.  Sometimes it takes younger students a couple of weeks to get through a lengthy book, but they always come back with faces glowing, telling me that they "loved it."  A few teachers, however, will not allow their students to check out these high-interest reads, saying, "Those are too far above your lexile" or "Those are too hard for you" and directing their students to the early-readers instead (200-300L).  I never see the same enthusiasm out of these students as I do from the students who rise to the challenge of a book they are truly interested in.  So while I understand that text complexity is an important consideration when selecting a text for a student, I don't think it should be the only criterion.

Furthermore, I'm not convinced that extracting slices from a lengthy text will always lead to an accurate measure of the text complexity overall.  And arbitrarily subtracting 120L from picture books and short nonfiction texts seems to be far from a perfect system.

Given these shortcomings, I would definitely argue with the assumption that a book more than 50L above a student's measured level, "the level of challenge is likely to be too great for the student to be able to construct very much meaning from the text."

I agree with the idea that Lexile measurements are helpful to students, teachers, and parents because they allow communication about student ability without falling back on statements about "at, above, or below" grade level.  However, I think there are also other systems that achieve this result.

As I begin my research, I think that the Lexile system probably started as a good idea (providing accurate measures of student reading ability and matching students to appropriate texts), but I question its measurement techniques and don't think that necessarily used correctly in today's classrooms.

Lennon, Colleen and Hal Burdick.  "The Lexile Framework as an Approach for Reading Measurement and Success."  MetaMetrics, Inc., 2004.