Literacy is a fundamental component for college and career readiness; yet, according to research, the typical high school student may not be exposed to the text demand reading levels required of high school graduates entering the workforce, first-year post-secondary or the military.
When a student is “college- and career-ready,” it means he or she has the knowledge and skills needed to qualify for and succeed in a postsecondary program or an entry-level job. Strong literacy skills – in particular, the ability to read and comprehend complex text – are an essential component of College & Career Readiness (Williamson, G. L., 2008).
Achieving College & Career Readiness: Getting Students on Track with Achieve3000
About Lexile® Measures for Reading
The Lexile®Framework is being used by LCEC districts to provide educators with a tool for measuring student growth.
The idea behind The Lexile®Framework for Reading is that if we know how well a student can read and how hard a specific text is to comprehend, we can use that information to predict how well the student will likely understand the text.
The Lexile® Framework helps to describe the text complexity necessary for students to meet the demands of colleges and careers. This framework displays college and career ready “stretch” Lexile bands. These college and career bands, also known as “stretch” bands, of the Lexile® Framework show an upward trajectory of reading comprehension development through the grades to indicate that all students should be reading at the college and career readiness level by no later than the end of high school.
Recommendations for Using The Lexile Framework to Prepare Students for College & Career Readiness
To address the literacy requirements and prepare students to be college and career ready Dr. Bill Daggett and Jerry Jerry A. Pedinotti, Jr., recommend these actions in their article Reading Skills and the Career Readiness Gap: A Study of High School Students’ Preparedness for College and Career
- Create an awareness program for faculty, boards, students and parents on the increasing rigor of reading requirements in the workplace.
- Provide focus and sustained professional development to K-12 teachers in general, and secondary teachers in particular, on how to become effective teachers of reading within their subject areas.
- Drive more career reading materials and applications into academic programs.
- Change your school’s report card. Use the results to track how well students are progressing semester by semester toward being college and career ready.
Additional Lexile Resources
Parent Resource Guide for the Lexile Framework – Source: Georgia DOE
Parent Resource Guide for the Lexile Framework (Spanish) – Source: Georgia DOE
Find Books Using the Lexile “Find a Book Tool” – Source MetaMetrics
Look up a Book’s Lexile Level – Source MetaMetrics
Lexile Text Analyzer – Source MetaMetrics
Lexile Measures by Grade – Source MetaMetrics
Lexile Infographic – Source MetaMetrics
