Ever since the Lexile program was integrated in our schools my child has less and less of a desire to read at all. The level my child sits at right now and range assigned to her has also taken away any chance for her to read fundamental classic literature. Basically my kid can read the latest crap novel about teen age romance but she cannot get any credit at school for reading Hemingway, Jack London, Dickens, Poe, H.G.Wells, Ray Bradbury or C.S.Lewis
It is both a blessing and a curse to raise a gifted child. We trust or educational system to ensure that they have the tools and knowledge to equip them for life and further education. I am not saying that it is entirely their responsibility. I take part in my child's education by staying on top of their grades, homework, projects and interests. The Lexile program and the teachers who do not demand that all children have a basic knowledge and exposure to the books, art and ideas expected to be taught in grade school I hold accountable.
I spoke with an educator in the gifted program at our school that dislikes the Lexile program as much as I do. I was informed that many of their "levels" posted for classic literature are based off of adapted versions of these books. This knowledge appalled me. So, when a kid looks up Great Expectations by Charles Dickens the level posted is much lower because it is based off an adapted by Joe Smith version of the book. Way to go Lexile! Thank you for dumbing down the children of our future. ------CK
This is just ridiculous! If my child were to read any of the classics, I would be appalled if their first exposure was an "adapted version" anyway, so what does this accomplish?? I'm with you. Something needs to be done about this.
ReplyDelete...i suppose they don't have the original works available... this really is unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteThe original works are available for any kid to read in the library. They will just not get the amount of credit that they should for reading it. The levels Lexile posts for the book will be for the adapted version. Which has dumbed down the vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteLet’s take this subject of reading levels a bit deeper re: independent reading.
ReplyDeleteDegrees of Reading Power (DRP)? Fleish-Kincaid? Lexiles? Accelerated Reader ATOS? Reading Recovery Levels? Fry’s Readability? John’s Basic Reading Inventory? Standardized test data? Each of these measures quantifies student reading levels and purports to offer guidance regarding how to match reader to text.
But, as an MA reading specialist, I have been trained in how these tests are constructed and how they help determine reading levels for students. I also know how some of the publishers of these tests level reading materials to match the results of their tests (and make a ton of money doing so). Although very scientific, there are eight problems with each of these approaches:
1. They are cumbersome and time-consuming to administer.
2. They tend to be costly.
3. They are teacher-dependent (students and parents can’t pick books at their challenge levels without guidance).
4. They do not factor in reader motivation.
5. They do not factor in reading content, in terms of maturity of themes (Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye has a 4.7 ATOS readability level).
6. When compared, the various formulae each vary in grade level equivalencies (one rates Tom Sawyer at 4.2, another at 6.9, and still another at 7.3).
7. They tend to force librarians into arbitrary book coding systems to conform to the tests.
8. They limit student and parent choice of reading materials.
Given these issues, isn’t there a better solution that will help inform selection of independent reading books? Yes. Motivation and word recognition.
Motivation has to factor into reading selection. My own son grew a full year in reading comprehension by reading the fourth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire over the summer a few years back. The book was certainly above his grade level for a fifth grader, but he was motivated and carefully read and re-read with dictionary and Dad at his side for help. Similarly, thank God for the current “Twilight” series. Many of my below grade level readers (I teach seventh graders) have significantly increased their reading levels by getting hooked on this latest literary phenomenon.
Secondly, word recognition remains the best indicator for self-selection of appropriate reading level books. It is book and reader-specific and thus cannot be tested by the above readability formulae. With guidance, parents and students can use either the five-finger technique (for younger kids) or the five-percent technique (for older students) to determine whether a book is at the appropriate challenge level for an individual student. Simply put, matching text to reader means picking a book that does not have too few or too many "hard" words for the reader. The right match will best challenge, yet not frustrate the reader. The right match will also produce the optimal reading comprehension and vocabulary growth.
My advice? Only assess what will inform your instruction. Motivation and word recognition best match reader with text. Ditch the rest! For more on the word recognition formulae, see How to Determine Reading Levels at http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/how-to-determine-reading-levels/.
Mr Pennington---
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your advice and congratulate you for your work. I understand that the Lexile and other programs like it are designed to help measure comprehension, word recognition, and skills. I am sure that it does aide teachers and students on some level, unfortunately my children do not fit into that category. I have no concerns for my kids to work really hard to improve their scores as they are already far advanced. I do want them to be well read and gain the exposure from literature that they will be writing papers about in college and discuss as adults. All this goal to read books in a range has taken that away from them and frustrated children who were once avid readers into the "reading is boring" children. ---- CK