DURHAM, NC--(Marketwire - Jun 4, 2012) - MetaMetrics®, developer of the widely adopted Lexile® Framework for Reading, is pleased to announce that more than 135,000 educators and other individuals have registered to use its free Lexile® Analyzer to determine the Lexile measure of various classroom and personal texts. Lexile measures evaluate how complex a text will likely be for a reader to comprehend so that the reader can be matched with texts that best complement his or her unique ability level and reading goals.
As nearly all states have adopted the new Common Core State Standards, the importance of measuring text complexity has gained national attention. The Common Core emphasizes the need for students to engage with texts of appropriate complexity as they prepare for college and career readiness. Lexile measures are used by The English Language Arts Standards to evaluate text complexity and provide Lexile bands for reading comprehension development, preparing students for college and career text demands and guiding publishers in creating grade-level content.
The Lexile Analyzer measures text complexity by evaluating various characteristics of the complete text, including word frequency and sentence length. Typically, texts with shorter sentences and words of higher frequency have lower Lexile measures, while texts with longer sentences and words of lower frequency have higher Lexile measures.
Today, more than 1.6 billion words have been examined by the Lexile Analyzer. Since the Lexile Analyzer became available for public use, more than 135,000 individuals have registered to use either the standard Lexile Analyzer or the professional version, which allows them to analyze texts exceeding 1,000 words. Lexile measures generated by the free Lexile Analyzer cannot be used commercially; however, publishers are able to license the Lexile Analyzer to develop products. Publishers can also utilize MetaMetrics' resource measurement service to receive certified Lexile measures that can then be reported in databases, catalogs and other public domains.
MetaMetrics' free "Find a Book" search tool contains books with Lexile measures and allows readers to build custom book lists and then locate their selections at a public library. "Find a Book" includes more than 125,000 fiction and nonfiction titles from more than 200 publishers. "Find a Book" and Lexile.com continue to rise in popularity. In the past 5 months, there have been nearly 1.7 million visits to Lexile.com. During this same time frame, individuals from every state, the District of Columbia, as well as, 200 countries have visited Lexile.com. In addition to Lexile.com resources, over 100 million articles have Lexile measures and are available from content aggregators such as EBSCO, Gale®, Newsbank®, and ProQuest.
"As educators transition from adoption to implementation of the Common Core State Standards, we are excited to see how the utilization of our free resources has escalated," said MetaMetrics President and co-founder Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. "What sets the Lexile Framework apart from other measurement systems is its ability to evaluate reading ability and text complexity on the same developmental scale, rather than generalized grade or age levels."
The Lexile Framework is a unique tool for accurately matching readers with text. Unlike other measurement systems, the Lexile Framework evaluates reading ability and growth based on actual assessment results, rather than generalized age or grade levels. Lexile measures are recognized globally as the most widely used reading metric with tens of millions of Lexile measures being reported annually from reading assessments and programs. They help teachers, librarians and parents find books, articles and other resources within a reader's recommended Lexile range: 100L below to 50L above his or her Lexile measure. Reading materials within this optimal Lexile range will challenge the individual's reading ability, while still maintaining interest and learning.
For more information and to register for the free Lexile Analyzer, visit www.Lexile.com. Publishers interested in getting certified Lexile measures for their texts should contact Emily Weller, Publisher Relations Manager, at 919-547-3452 or eweller@Lexile.com.
About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is focused on improving education for learners of all ages and ability levels. The organization develops scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. MetaMetrics' products and services for reading (The Lexile Framework for Reading, El Sistema Lexile para Leer), mathematics (The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics), and writing (The Lexile® Framework for Writing) provide unique insights about academic ability and the potential for growth, enabling individuals to achieve their goals at every stage of development. Connect with the organization at: http://blog.lexile.com.
Contact Information:
For more information:
Elizabeth Lattanzio
919-354-3482