How Can I Use My Child's Lexile Score?

What is a Lexile?

According to Lexile.com, "A Lexile measure is a valuable piece of information about either an individual's reading ability or the difficulty of a text, like a book or magazine article. The Lexile measure is shown as a number with an "L" after it — 880L is 880 Lexile."

When IHES took the MAP Assessment, it assigned every child a Lexile range based on how he or she performed on the assessment.  You can find that range on your child's MAP data report.  

At what level does the "average" fourth grader read?

The chart below explains two things. 

• Column 1 of the chart shows a sample Lexile level of an average student at the middle of the year.  Please note that this is a range, and that there is overlap from grade level to grade level.  
• Teachers use many factors in deciding what is appropriate to use to teach lessons.  For instance, for familiar concept, teachers may choose a more challenging text, but for a new concept, they might use a lower level text to introduce the skill.  
• It is important to note that the Lexile measure of a book refers to its text difficulty only. A Lexile measure does not address the content or quality of the book. Lexile measures are based on two well-established predictors of how difficult a text is to comprehend: word frequency and sentence length. Many other factors affect the relationship between a reader and a book, including its content, the age and interests of the reader, and the design of the actual book. The Lexile measure is a good starting point in your book-selection process, but you should always consider these other factors when making a decision about which book to choose. 
• Column 2 represents the demand of text that students should be reading to be college and career ready by the end of grade 12.  

Grade	Average Reader, Mid-Year	2012 CCSS Text Measures*
1	Up to 300L	190L to 530L
2	140L to 500L	420L to 650L
3	330L to 700L	520L to 820L
4	445L to 810L	740L to 940L
5	565L to 910L	830L to 1010L
6	665L to 1000L	925L to 1070L
7	735L to 1065L	970L to 1120L
8	805L to 1100L	1010L to 1185L
9	855L to 1165L	1050L to 1260L
10	905L to 1195L	1080L to 1335L
11 and 12	940L to 1210L	1185L to 1385L

How Can I Use this information?

You can use the information to help guide your child into books that are just right for them. If you visit the following website, Lexile.com you are able to enter in your child's Lexile range and find a list of books that would be suitable for them to read independently.