Spanish Lexile Reading and Text Measures
- The Spanish Lexile reading measure represents how well a student reads and comprehends text written in Spanish. Students receive a Spanish Lexile reading measure after taking a Spanish reading comprehension test.
- The Spanish Lexile text measure represents the reading challenge of a piece of Spanish-language text. The Spanish Lexile Text Analyzer, a software application developed by MetaMetrics, analyzes features of the text to determine its Spanish Lexile text measure.
Both measures are reported on the same developmental scale, the Lexile scale.
Spanish Lexile Reading Measures
When students take a Spanish reading comprehension test, their result is reported as a Spanish Lexile reading measure. MetaMetrics has developed a bank of test items that assess Spanish reading comprehension from early grades through high school. These items are used to develop Spanish reading tests for partners and to link the Spanish Lexile Framework for Reading with pre-existing Spanish reading comprehension tests. As a result, student scores can be reported as Spanish Lexile reading measures and used to monitor reading growth, forecast comprehension of Spanish-language text, and select appropriate Spanish reading materials. Spanish Lexile reading measures are expressed as numeric measures followed by an “L” (for example, 850L) and are placed on the Lexile scale, ranging from below 0L (e.g., BR) for beginning Spanish readers to above 1600L for advanced readers.
The Spanish Lexile reading item bank contains more than 2,694 Spanish reading comprehension items developed since 1998 for use with the Spanish Lexile Framework. The passages used are “real world” reading materials that students may encounter both in and out of the classroom and from adapted materials used with the Lexile Item Bank. Sources include textbooks, literature, and periodicals from a variety of interest areas and by authors of different backgrounds. Passages authored or commissioned by MetaMetrics are created to model real-world reading materials.
Items used to assess the Spanish reading ability of early readers include picture items, picture/word audio-enhanced items, one-sentence items, and two-sentence items. These items are designed using Spanish Lexile-appropriate vocabulary, sight words, images, and other text characteristics typically associated with early reading.
Spanish Lexile Text Measures
The Spanish Lexile Text Analyzer is a tool powered by the software developed by MetaMetrics that evaluates the characteristics of a Spanish-language text to determine its complexity. Spanish Lexile text measures are reported on the Lexile scale, so they can be compared to student Spanish Lexile reading measures, which are also reported on the Lexile scale. Spanish Lexile text measures are expressed as numeric measures followed by an “L” (for example, 650L), and are placed on the Lexile scale, ranging from below 0L (e.g., BR) for beginning reader text to above 1600L for advanced text. For the optimal challenge, MetaMetrics recommends that readers select text with Spanish Lexile text measures within their Lexile reading range (i.e., +50L to -100L of their Spanish Lexile reading measure). However, texts above and below their Spanish Lexile reading range may be appropriate for specific reading conditions and purposes.
Prior to submitting any text to the Spanish Lexile Analyzer, the electronic files should be edited according to the established guidelines as described in the Lexile Text Analyzer Text Preparation Guide. These guidelines apply to both English and Spanish text and include the removal of all incomplete sentences, chapter titles, and paragraph headings; and the running of a spell check. The text is then submitted to the Spanish Text Analyzer, which uses sentence length and word frequency variables to determine its Spanish text measure.
Partners can license the Lexile Text Analyzer API to measure both Spanish and English text. See About the Lexile Text Analyzer API for more information.