International Center for Leadership in Education Nicole Hochholzer Developing 21 st Century Literacy in Students

Literacy in the 21 st 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 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

2010 Workplace Demands Highly skilled Low skilled A vg. age to enter the workplace Number of times change jobs Est. Life expectancy in to 124!

21 st Century Skills for Success  Strong Academics  Reading, Writing, Math, Science, Technology Skills  Career Skills  Workplace Attitudes & Ethics  Character Virtues  Honesty, Responsibility, Integrity

Reading Literacy National Adult Literacy National Adult Literacy Study (NALS) International Adult Literacy International Adult Literacy Study (IALS)

Three Scales Prose Prose Document Document Quantitative Quantitative

Results 20 Nations 20 Nations Year Olds Year Olds Prose – 9th Prose – 9th Document – 14th Document – 14th Quantitative – 13th Quantitative – 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 Levels Do I want to buy a 5 th grade shoe? Why would I want to buy a 5 th grade book?

Lexile Framework “Wow! I didn’t know I could figure out how kids are “Wow! I didn’t know I could figure 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 11 th grade?”

Lexile Literature On Ancient Medicine The Scarlet Letter Brown vs. Board of Ed War and Peace Pride and Prejudice Black Beauty Tom Swift in the Land of Wonders The Adventures of Pinocchio Bunnicula: A Rabbit Tale of Mystery A Baby Sister for Frances The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth Frog and Toad are Friends Clifford’s Manners

Lexile Texts The Making of Memory: From Molecules to Mind; Doubleday Philosophical Essays; Hackett Publishing Psychology: An Introduction; Prentice Hall Business; Prentice Hall America: Pathways to Present; Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Gold Level; Prentice Hall World Cultures: A Global Mosaic; Prentice Hall Word 97; Glencoe/McGraw-Hill World Explorer: The U.S. & Canada; Prentice Hall Science (Grade 4); Addison-Wesley People and Places; Silver Burdett Ginn Imagine That!; Scholastic Inc 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 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)

Newspapers Reuters (1440) NY Times (1380) Washington Post (1350) Wall Street Journal (1320) Chicago Tribune (1310) Associated Press (1310) USA Today (1200)

16 Career Clusters Department of Education

Reading Requirements Findings Entry-level Entry-level Highest in 6/16 Highest in 6/16 Second Highest in 7/16 Second Highest in 7/16 Consistent Across Country Consistent Across Country

Human Services

Construction

Manufacturing

Lexile Framework ® for Reading Study Summary of Text Lexile Measures Text Lexile Measure (L) High School Literature College Literature High School Textbooks College Textbooks Military Personal Use Entry-Level Occupations SAT 1, ACT, AP* * Source of National Test Data: MetaMetrics Interquartile Ranges Shown (25% - 75%)

Lexile Framework ® for Reading Study Summary of High School Textbook Lexile Measures Text Lexile Measure (L) ELAScience Social StudiesArtsCTE Math Subject Area Textbooks 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 : test all freshmen, CD and KARE (at-risk) students :test all freshmen, sophomores, CD and KARE students :test all freshmen, sophomore, juniors, CD and KARE students : 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 2. Click “Find Titles Using the Lexile Book Database” 3. Choose a search field 4. Click “Search”

Another conundrum…. A 10 th 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 21 st century is more than reading and writing It’s the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn.

Nicole Hochholzer (920)

International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc Route 146 Rexford, NY Phone (518) Fax (518)