You are likely to be hearing more and more about lexiles in the years to come.  These are scores which measure a student's reading level and will be derived from the student's SOL reading scores this year and in future years.  The lexile is a measure of the difficulty of the reading material and the student's ability to read it.  It is hoped that this will be yet another helpful way for parents and educators to steer students toward reading materials that are appropriate for the student's reading level; in other words, books that are not too hard and not too easy, but just right.

So saying, let me post a word of caution.  A lexile is only a measure of the student's ability to read the text; it does not by itself mean that a book is appropriate for a child.  For example a book may have a mature theme but be written on an easy level.  Just because the child is able to read a book does not mean that the book is developmentally appropriate for the child.

Below is more detailed information about lexiles and how to use them as well as links to sites that recommend books by lexile levels for students.

Contact Jamie Chapman at 973-5211 for more information.

Who: Virginia Students in grades 3-8 who take the Reading Standards of Learning Assessment (SOL)

What: The governor of Virginia, the VA Board of education, and the department of education will be kicking off a new initiative to assist educators, parents and students to select books and other targeted reading materials that meet and challenge a reader's unique abilities and interests.  On the Standards of Learning results report, the state will include a Lexile measure for your child based on his/her score on the reading portion of the test. This Lexile Framework for Reading is an educational tool that measures both reading ability and text difficulty on the same scale, while not providing a judgment on age-appropriateness, student interest, or quality of the text.  For more information, please go to the Lexile Framework or Virginia Department of Education's homepage. (see below)

When: Beginning in the summer of 2009
 
Why: The Lexile Framework may be used by parents to offer them additional resources when selecting books and other print material for their child.  Parents may contact their local library or access the "Find a Book" feature. (see below)
 
How this may be useful to parents: The Lexile measure enables you, the parent, to view a range of possible reading materials as one part of the effort to strengthen the partnership between teachers and parents to promote reading and literacy.  Enclosed you will find a brochure that includes information on how to select books using a Lexile Measure, offering you yet one more tool in the broad scope of your child's development as a reader.

Lexiles at Agnor-Hurt:  In the spring of 2009, the Agnor-Hurt Library collection was upgraded to include lexiles for all the books for which they were available. The library catalog or book finder, as the students call it, has a tab which allows users to search for books by a lexile number.

Students and teachers can browse the library catalog for books at a certain lexile level or in a range of lexiles.

Some web sites for more information about Lexiles include: