Kansas Adopts Lexile Measures
State Assessment Includes Widely Adopted Measure
for Improving Student Reading Ability at School and Home
Karla Denny, Director of Communications, 785-296-4876
TOPEKA—October 5, 2009—When Kansas’ more than 263,000 students in grades 3–8 and 11 receive their Kansas State Assessment reports later this month, their reading scores will also be reported as a Lexile® measure. The Kansas Department of Education today announced that it has partnered with Lexile-developer MetaMetrics® to link its state reading assessments with The Lexile Framework® for Reading. Lexile measures help educators, librarians and parents connect students with books and other materials that will promote the development of reading skills.
“Reading is a critical skill and is highly predictive of a student’s future success in school,” said Dr. Alexa Posny, Kansas Commissioner of Education. “We want every student to think of reading as an ongoing activity throughout the year. With the addition of Lexile measures to our reading assessments, we are taking another step to ensure that every student in Kansas has the opportunity to become a good reader.”
Beginning with this year’s reading assessments, students’ Lexile measures will be included on the score reports that each district sends home in parent letters. To support this initiative, the Kansas Department of Education has added Lexile information and resources on its website at http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=3670.
“Superintendent Posny and the Kansas Department of Education understand the important role that student assessment plays in differentiating instruction and promoting reading growth,” said MetaMetrics President Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. “By adding Lexile measures to its state reading assessments, the education agency is strengthening its commitment to improving reading achievement for all students.”
The Lexile Framework differs from other measurement systems in that it uses a common, developmental scale and measure to match students with instructional resources and activities that are targeted to their unique reading ability. Lexile measures allow teachers, librarians and families to find books, articles and other materials that will challenge a student’s ability, while still maintaining interest and learning. Recognized as the most widely adopted reading measure, more than 28 million Lexile measures are reported from reading assessments and programs annually, representing about half of U.S. students. For more information, and to access free Lexile resources, visit www.Lexile.com.
Educators interested in learning more about Lexile measures are encouraged to attend the KSDE 2009 Fall Assessment Conference, October 26–27 in Topeka. Otis Fulton, MetaMetrics’ Senior Vice President, Government Relations, will present“Using Lexile Measures to Differentiate Instruction” on Tuesday, October 27, at 10:00 a.m. For more information and to register, visit www.ksde.org.
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization, develops scientifically based measures of student achievement that link assessment with instruction, foster better educational practices, and improve learning by matching students with materials that meet and challenge their abilities. The organization’s renowned psychometric team developed the widely adopted Lexile Frameworkfor Reading (www.Lexile.com); El Sistema Lexile para Leer, the Spanish-language version of the Lexile Framework; The Quantile Framework® for Mathematics (www.Quantiles.com); and The Lexile Framework for Writing. In addition to licensing Lexile and Quantile® measures to state departments of education, testing and instructional companies, and publishers, MetaMetrics delivers professional development, resource measurement and customized consulting services.
# # #