Lexiles take the guess work out of choosing the right reading materials
December 2, 2005

Do you ever wonder if what your child is reading is too easy, too difficult, or just right? Now there is a way to know.

When students in grades 2-9 take the MAP reading test, they receive a Lexile score in addition to their RITreading score. Teachers and parents can use the Lexile score to identify books and other reading materials that are appropriately challenging for students, thereby assuring that students comprehend what they are reading and continue to grow as readers.

So what is a Lexile?

The term “Lexile” refers to a reading level. Students have a Lexile measurement that indicates their reading ability. Many books and other reading materials have Lexile measurements that indicate the level of difficulty of the text on two parameters: word complexity and frequency, and sentence length. The goal is to match the student’s reading level with reading materials that are at, or slightly above, his/her level.

The Lexile scale ranges from 200 for a beginning reader to 1700 for advanced readers. The measurements show a “L” on the end, such as 200L or 1700L. Lexile measures do not translate to grade levels. To say that some books are "just right" for fifth graders assumes that all fifth graders are reading at the same level.

How can I find out about my child’s Lexile measure?

You can obtain your child’s Lexile measure by asking his/her teacher. Some schools may include Lexile measures with report cards, test results, and home reading materials.

Managing your child's reading comprehension

Matching your child's Lexile measure to reading materials with the same Lexile measure can help improve his/her reading comprehension by ensuring that the material is not too difficult to be frustrating, but difficult enough to encourage reading progress.  A reader's recommended Lexile range is 50 points above and 100 points below their Lexile measure. These are the boundaries between the easiest kind of reading material for your child and the hardest level at which he/she can read successfully.

Once you have your child's Lexile measure, you can connect him/her to tens of thousands of books and tens of millions of articles that have Lexile measures. Our district has access to online periodical databases where you can search for articles by Lexile measure.

For books, the Lexile Book Database (at www.Lexile.com) can be used to both find books and create booklists. The Horry County Schools Online Catalog also provides a Lexile range search for book titles in school libraries. If there are books your child would like to read that belong in the library of another school, the media specialist at your school can get the books for you on loan. To access this catalog, go to the school district’s homepage at www.hcs.k12.sc.us, click on “For Students,” and then click on “Library Catalog.”  You may search materials by keyword, title, author, Lexile range, and other criteria. You can search for specific titles based on your child's Lexile measure, and use keywords of interest knowing that the selections will be appropriate to your child's current reading ability.

HCS has created a brief tutorial on how to use the HCS Online Library Catalog to locate books using a Lexile Measure and/or a subject search. To use the tutorial, go the school district’s homepage at www.hcs.k12.sc.us, then select Media Services from the pull-down menu for departments, then click on Using the HCS Online Library Catalog with Lexile Measures under the What’s New features.

For more information, contact your child’s teacher or the school media specialist.