Career Database FAQ

What is the Career Database?

The Career Database empowers users to identify the reading and mathematics abilities necessary for career preparedness. It contains Lexile and Quantile measures for more than 700 careers (to date) and important descriptive information for each career. The database results from years of research examining the complexity of a variety of reading and mathematics materials in various domains of the post-secondary experience.

How does MetaMetrics select the careers to be included in the Career Database?

The careers featured in the Career Database have been identified as Bright Outlook Occupations by O*NET^®, the premier online career search database designed for the U.S. Department of Labor. Bright Outlook Occupations are careers expected to grow and emerge in the next few years and offer large numbers of new job openings.

What process was used to determine the Lexile measures and Quantile measures for the careers in the Career Database?

To obtain the Lexile measures and Quantile measures needed for entry into a particular career, MetaMetrics identified sample materials commonly encountered in training or during the first year of employment in that career. Sample materials included content from career preparation institutions, professional associations, career-related websites, etc. To obtain Lexile measures, samples were measured for text complexity using the Lexile Text Analyzer^®. To obtain Quantile measures, MetaMetrics’ subject matter experts analyzed the mathematics demand associated with the samples. The resulting reading and mathematics demand of a career was the statistical summary (i.e., 25th percentile, median, and 75th percentile) for its Lexile and Quantile measures distribution.

What is the research basis behind the Lexile reading and Quantile measures in the Career Database?

The research briefs listed below describe the research studies conducted by MetaMetrics to determine the text complexity and mathematics demand of materials needed to prepare for entry into individual careers or occupations:

• Enriching the Concept of Career Preparedness by Examining Text Complexity Associated with Bright Outlook Occupations
• Quantile Mathematical Demand for Career Accessibility

How can I use the Lexile and Quantile Career Database in my product?

An excellent way to incorporate Lexile and Quantile measures of the Career Database into a product is to have a product component, such as an activity or a report. Students can compare their student Lexile or Quantile measure to the Lexile and Quantile measures of careers of interest. Note that student Lexile and Quantile measures can be obtained from students taking a Lexile- or Quantile- enabled assessment, available through a partnership with MetaMetrics.

If a student has a Lexile or Quantile measure equal to or greater than the Lexile or Quantile measure for a career, will the student be successful?

The Lexile and Quantile measures of the Career Database indicate the reading and mathematics ability necessary for a student to be prepared to enter into a particular career. Because career success depends on many additional factors such as work ethic, motivation, and work environment, Lexile and Quantile measures do not indicate how successful the student will likely be in the career.