International Center for Leadership in Education

Nicole Hochholzer

Developing 21st Century

Literacy in Students

Literacy in the 21st century is more than reading and writing . . .

. . . It’s the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

1900 Workplace Demands

Highly skilled

Low skilled

•Avg. age to enter work force

•Avg. age to leave work force

14

47•Life expectancy 47

1980 Workplace Demands

Highly skilled

Low skilled

Semi skilled

•Avg. age to enter work force•Avg. age to leave work force•Life expectancy

18

6578

2010 Workplace DemandsHighly skilled

Low skilled

•Avg. age to enter the workplace

•Number of times change jobs

21

5-8•Est. Life expectancy in 2100 107 to 124!

21st Century Skills for Success

Strong Academics Reading, Writing, Math, Science,

Technology Skills

Career Skills Workplace Attitudes & Ethics

Character Virtues Honesty, Responsibility, Integrity

Reading LiteracyReading Literacy National Adult LiteracyNational Adult Literacy

Study (NALS)Study (NALS) International Adult Literacy International Adult Literacy

Study (IALS)Study (IALS)

Three ScalesThree Scales ProseProse DocumentDocument QuantitativeQuantitative

ResultsResults 20 Nations20 Nations 16-65 Year Olds16-65 Year Olds

Prose – 9thProse – 9th Document – 14thDocument – 14th Quantitative – 13thQuantitative – 13th

So what do we do?

• Have a plan• Have some buy-in• Listen to your staff• Have a back-up plan• Give it time• Be prepared to change the plan!

How do I create a plan?

• Must look at your school’s DNA

• Don’t try to take on too much

• Decide WHO is responsible for WHAT and WHEN it will happen

• Must give it time

• Must reassess frequently

Four types of literacy:

1. Functional Literacy

2. Content Literacy

3. Technological Literacy

4. Innovative Literacy

Where will you start?

If you do nothing else…

Stop guessing about your students’ reading abilities!

Grade LevelsGrade Levels

Do I want to buy a 5th

grade shoe?

Why would I want to buy a 5th

grade book?

Lexile FrameworkLexile Framework

““Wow! I didn’t know I could Wow! I didn’t know I could

figure out how kids arefigure out how kids are

reading in my class!”reading in my class!”

So what’s a Lexile?

• The Lexile Framework is a widely adopted method to measure reader ability and text difficulty.

• A Lexile is determined for each student, based on the student’s performance on a given assessment (TAKS, SRI)

source: MetaMetrics

The Lexile Framework consists of two main components:

• A Lexile MEASURE – the numeric representation of a reader’s ability or a text’s difficulty

• The Lexile SCALE – a developmental scale for reading ranging from 200L for beginning readers to above 1700L for advanced text

• The measure and scale are the same, so users can match text with ability

» Source: MetaMetrics

What does a Lexile measure?

• Syntactic Complexity

-number of words per sentence

-longer sentences – more complex, require

more short-term memory to process• Semantic Difficulty

-the frequency of words in a corpus of

written text

-corpus have over 400 million words

Why use the Lexile score?

When reader and text are appropriately matched, a reader can enjoy a comprehension rate of about 75%

The 75% comprehension level corresponds to the balance of skill and difficulty that allows reading to be a positive, but adequately challenging experience, and encourages the reader to grow in proficiency and motivation

In other words…

• You can figure out if what your students are reading is too easy or too hard!

• You can determine if the students won’t read, or if they CAN’T read!

Important to know..

• There’s no direct translation from a specific Lexile measure to a specific grade level

• The real power of the Lexile Framework is to meet readers “where they are” and to help them grow

• “So…1100 doesn’t equal 11th grade?”

Lexile LiteratureLexile Literature1500 - On Ancient Medicine1400 - The Scarlet Letter1300 - Brown vs. Board of Ed.1200 - War and Peace1100 - Pride and Prejudice1000 - Black Beauty 900 - Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders 800 - The Adventures of Pinocchio 700 - Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery 600 - A Baby Sister for Frances 500 - The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth 400 - Frog and Toad are Friends 300 - Clifford’s Manners

Lexile TextsLexile Texts1500 - The Making of Memory: From Molecules to Mind;

Doubleday1400 - Philosophical Essays; Hackett Publishing1300 - Psychology: An Introduction; Prentice Hall1200 - Business; Prentice Hall1100 - America: Pathways to Present; Prentice Hall1000 - Writing and Grammar Gold Level; Prentice Hall 900 - World Cultures: A Global Mosaic; Prentice Hall 800 - Word 97; Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 700 - World Explorer: The U.S. & Canada; Prentice Hall 600 - Science (Grade 4); Addison-Wesley 500 - People and Places; Silver Burdett Ginn 400 - Imagine That!; Scholastic Inc. 300 - My World; Harcourt Brace

Good to know….

• As of 2006, every textbook published has been “Lexiled”

• Go to lexile.com, and click on book database to find the Lexile score for a particular textbook

Personal UsePersonal Use

Aetna Health Care Discount Form (1360)Medical Insurance Benefit Package (1280)Application for Student Loan (1270)Federal Tax Form W-4 (1260) Installing Your Child Safety Seat (1170)Microsoft Windows User Manual (1150)G.M. Protection Plan (1150)CD DVD Player Instructions (1080)

NewspapersNewspapersReuters (1440)NY Times (1380)Washington Post (1350)Wall Street Journal (1320)Chicago Tribune (1310)Associated Press (1310)USA Today (1200)

16 Career Clusters16 Career ClustersDepartment of EducationDepartment of Education

Agriculture and Natural Resources Arts, Audiovisual Technology, and Communications

Business and Administration Architecture and Construction

Education and Training Finance

Health Science Hospitality and Tourism

Human Services Information Technology

Law and Public Safety Manufacturing

Government and Public Administration

Retail, Wholesale, and Service

Scientific Research and Engineering Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

Reading RequirementsReading RequirementsFindingsFindings

Entry-levelEntry-level Highest in 6/16Highest in 6/16 Second Highest in 7/16Second Highest in 7/16

Consistent Across CountryConsistent Across Country

 

Ad

van

ced

Lexile Reading Level Range: 850-930

Inte

rmed

iate

Lexile Reading Level Range: 940-1090

En

try

Lev

el

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1000-1140

Human ServicesHuman Services

 

A

dva

nce

d

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1310-1390

Inte

rmed

iate

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1250-1340

En

try

Lev

el

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1310-1350

ConstructionConstruction

 

Ad

van

ced

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1310-1440

Inte

rmed

iate

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1280-1310

En

try

Lev

el

Lexile Reading Level Range: 1280-1330

ManufacturingManufacturing

2005-06 Lexile Framework® for Reading Study Summary of Text Lexile Measures

600

800

1000

1400

1600

1200

Tex

t L

exil

e M

easu

re (

L)

HighSchool

Literature

CollegeLiterature

HighSchool

Textbooks

CollegeTextbooks

Military PersonalUse

Entry-LevelOccupations

SAT 1,ACT,AP*

* Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics

Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

2005-06 Lexile Framework® for Reading StudySummary of High School Textbook Lexile Measures

800

1000

1400

1200

Tex

t L

exil

e M

easu

re (

L)

ELA ScienceSocialStudies Arts CTEMath

Subject Area Textbooks

1300

1100

900

Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)

• Lexile test developed by Scholastic

• Computer-based test

• Takes about 20 minutes to complete

• Students receive book list according to lexile score and interests

• Can test as often as desired

KHS testing plan

• 2004-2005: test all freshmen, CD and KARE (at-risk) students

• 2005-2006:test all freshmen, sophomores, CD and KARE students

• 2006-2007:test all freshmen, sophomore, juniors, CD and KARE students

• 2007-2008: all students

SRI Testing

• Freshmen year: physical science classes

• Sophomore year: English 10 classes

• Junior year: US & World 11 classes

• CD and KARE students tested through their primary teachers

• Test in September and February each year

But what does it all mean?

The number one question parents (and students) ask about the Lexile Framework is “My child scored ______. What does this mean? “

When communicating with students and parents, remember:

• Don’t get too focused on numbers – ranges are more important

• To give examples of books and other text materials appropriate for the student

• To give examples of how parents can HELP the student

• To talk about where the student is going – emphasize progress!

Common teacher questions:

• How do I find out the Lexile of my textbook?

• How do I know if the novel we’re reading is too easy or too difficult?

• How can I find books for a student at the appropriate lexile?

Lexile Book Database

1. Go to www.Lexile.com

2. Click “Find Titles Using the Lexile Book Database”

3. Choose a search field

4. Click “Search”

Another conundrum….

• A 10th grade biology teacher with 120 students in five sections uses a 1000L textbook. One third of her students are reading below 1000L.

• What can she do?

Use the Lexile Analyzer!

1. Register or sign in at Lexile.com

2. Find or create a .txt file (ON DESKTOP)

• Create a word document

• Save as .txt to desktop

Lexile Analyzer

1. Click on Lexile Analyzer

2. Click on “Browse”

3. Double-click on your document

4. Click on “Analyze”

Or..use a search engine…

• SIRS

• Ebscohost

• Proquest

Makes differentiating easy!

Uses at KHS:

• Self-selection of books in English classes

• Math textbook example

• Helped teachers understand need for strategies and differentiation

• Part of textbook selection process

• “Snapshot” test for special ed

Literacy in the 21st century is more than reading and writing . . .

. . . It’s the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Nicole Hochholzer

nhochholzer@hotmail.com

(920) 766-5948

International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.

1587 Route 146Rexford, NY 12148Phone (518) 399-2776Fax (518) 399-7607• E-mail - info@LeaderEd.com• www.LeaderEd.com