DURHAM, NC--(Marketwire - Mar 27, 2013) - MetaMetrics®, developer of The Lexile® Framework for Reading, today announced enhancements to its online reading service for TOEFL® Junior™ test takers. Now, visitors to www.Lexile.com/toefljunior can use the Lexile® measure on a TOEFL Junior score report to find short articles at the same level for instant, online reading practice. Additionally, through cooperation with Japan's Global Communications and Testing (GC&T), local test takers, educators, and parents can experience the website using Japanese-language interfaces for added convenience in accessing the valuable learning resource.
"Too often today, reading assessments lack information that can inform day-to-day learning and improvement," said Dr. Malbert Smith III, president of MetaMetrics. "We created the Lexile Framework as an objective way to connect assessment with instruction by matching readers with text. Lexile measures provide a direct way to individualize day-to-day reading practice to improve learning based on assessment results."
"Even as our database of Lexile measures for books commonly found in stores and libraries continues to expand," added Timothy Klasson, chief operating officer, "we recognized with GC&T an opportunity to deliver even more immediate value to TOEFL Junior test takers through online reading experiences. Our shared commitment to improving learning in Japan made it an easy decision to bring these new features to the TOEFL Junior community. In fact, we have many more exciting enhancements in store for the year ahead."
In addition to the instant reading now available on the site, visitors can continue to create and manage book reading lists based on their Lexile measures and interests. To date, more than 150,000 books from hundreds of publishers worldwide have received a Lexile measure, and measures for new books are being added daily. A book receives a Lexile measure when MetaMetrics analyzes the full text using proprietary software that evaluates the semantic and syntactic characteristics.
"The Lexile measure provides valuable information to TOEFL Junior test takers, and the enhanced Lexile reading service with Japanese-language interfaces makes it even easier to benefit," said Shinichiro Nakae, president of GC&T. "With these enhancements, our customers will have even more ways to use their Lexile measures and improve their reading over time."
Recognized as the most widely used measure of English reading, Lexile measures today connect tens of millions of students to more than 100 million articles and books through extensive partnerships in government, publishing, technology and research. For more information, visit www.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.
About Global Communication & Testing
The company was established in 2011 when Kumon Institute of Education Co., Ltd. joined forces with Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world's largest non-profit test development and research organization. With the relationship with ETS, GC&T takes charge of the development and diffusion of ability assessment skills. As the first step of this, GC&T is responsible for the promotion of TOEFL® Junior™ Test in Japan. Kumon aims to contribute to the improvement of worldwide education levels through global human resource development.
About TOEFL® Junior™
Setting a strong foundation for students early makes all the difference. That's why it's important to have an accurate understanding of their English-language skills that can help guide them to reach their full potential.
The TOEFL® Junior™ Standard test is an objective and reliable measure of a student's English communication skills. While the ETS university-level TOEFL® test continues to set the standard for the measurement of English-language proficiency worldwide, the TOEFL Junior Standard test measures the degree to which students in middle school and lower levels of high school have attained proficiency in the academic and social English-language skills representative of English-medium instructional environments.
The TOEFL Junior tests are being rolled out in two testing modes and can be used in multiple ways in the classroom for placement and to monitor progress. Learn more about how the TOEFL Junior tests can help guide students to a future of opportunities at http://www.ets.org/toefl_junior.
Contact Information:
For more information:
Elizabeth Lattanzio
919-354-3482