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.
International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc.
1587 Route 146Rexford, NY 12148Phone (518) 399-2776Fax (518) 399-7607• E-mail - [email protected]• www.LeaderEd.com