As you may know last week we finished with our California Standards Testing (CST’s) and we look to get those results in early August. This week many of our students have begun taking the District Local Measures Assessments, measuring progress in Reading, Writing and Math. These assessments are more aligned to the new Common Core Standards and therefore are very rigorous compared to the CST’s. The biggest difference is rather than filling in a multiple choice bubble, students must be able to fully explain their answers. In most cases this requires students to write out their answers in full sentences and/or through the use of pictures. Also, since our focus this year has been on California Standards and not the Common Core, teachers are still becoming familiar with the new standards as they continue to improve their instructional techniques. I would expect most students to have contradictory results, where they show proficiency on one assessment, but not the other. In my opinion, this is fairly typical when implementing new standards and assessments. Knowing this challenge exists we are committed to ensure your children receive the necessary instruction to be successful in all measures and will work diligently to prepare ourselves.
What follows is a letter being distributed by the District to give you more information about the Local Measures Reading Assessment taken by all 2nd through 6th grade students:
LevelSet is an online reading assessment tool that measures your child’s nonfiction reading skills.
Achieve3000’s LevelSet offers a scientific means of matching students to informational text. Developed by Achieve3000 in conjunction with MetaMetrics Inc., this summative assessment provides a measure of student ability to read and comprehend non-fiction texts.
Here’s how it works:
- To begin the LevelSet assessment, students simply log onto Achieve3000 Solutions using their pre-assigned usernames and passwords.
- They read a series of approximately 30 paragraph-long passages and answer a cloze style (fill in the blank) question about each one.
The assessment usually takes just one class period (30-40 minutes) and results in an individual Lexile placement score for each student.
Frequently Asked Questions about LevelSet and the Lexile Framework®
What do the Lexile® results mean?
LevelSet reports student performance on a Lexile scale. The scale ranges from one for beginning readers to above 1350 for highly advanced readers. The Lexile Framework is a scientific approach to reading and text measurement that has become the most widely adopted reading measure in use today. For example, if a student scores a 600L, his score is translated to a 3 and he receives reading materials appropriate for a student reading at approximately a third grade level. Note that BR indicates that the student is a beginning reader. AR indicates that the student is an advanced reader.
Is my child on track for college and career?
The chart that follows can help you understand whether your child is considered “on track for college and career readiness” as defined by the Common Core State Standards. Refer to the appropriate grade level to see whether your child is on track. For example, if your child is in the fourth grade, refer to the Grade 4 row. This row indicates that a Lexile of 740L and higher is considered on track.
An additional PRE reading level is available upon request for students who score below a 150 Lexile. If teachers do not enable the PRE level, all students who score below 290 Lexile will receive the BR level.
College and Career Readiness |
||||
Not On Track |
On Track |
|||
Grade |
Falls Far Below |
Approaches |
Meets |
Exceeds |
1 |
-111 and Below |
-110 to 185L |
190L to 530L |
535L and Above |
2 |
150L and Below |
155L to 415L |
420L to 650L |
655L and Above |
3 |
265L and Below |
270L to 515L |
520L to 820L |
825L and Above |
4 |
385L and Below |
390L to 735L |
740L to 940L |
945L and Above |
5 |
500L and Below |
505L to 825L |
830L to 1010L |
1015L and Above |
6 |
555L and Below |
560L to 920L |
925L to 1070L |
1075L and Above |
7 |
625L and Below |
630L to 965L |
970L to 1120L |
1125L and Above |
8 |
660L and Below |
665L to 1005L |
1010L to 1185L |
1190L and Above |
9 |
775L and Below |
780L to 1045L |
1050L to 1260L |
1265L and Above |
10 |
830L and Below |
835L to 1075L |
1080L to 1335L |
1340L and Above |
11/12 |
950L and Below |
955L to 1180L |
1185L to 1385L |
1390L and Above |