What are Lexiles?

Lexiles help you know if a book is too easy, too difficult, or just right for a reader. Young people can best grow their reading abilities -- and learn to love reading in the process -- by choosing books in their reading "sweet spot" that are about subjects they're interested in. Knowing the difficulty of a book and the ability of a reader helps you match books to readers to maximize their success and enjoyment. Lexiles make this matching possible.

Built on decades of research, The Lexile Framework® for Reading is a scientific approach to measuring readers and books on the same scale. A Lexile measure (a simple number followed by an “L”) reflects either the difficulty of a text or a reader's ability. A 200L book is for a beginning reader, and a 1700L book might be read in graduate school. Lexile measures are the most widely adopted reading measures in use today. Tens of thousands of books from over 450 publishers have Lexile measures. All major standardized reading tests, as well as many end-of-grade tests and popular instructional reading programs, also report student reading scores in Lexiles.

The Lexile Framework is not a product or instructional program any more than a thermometer is a medical treatment. But just as a thermometer can be useful in managing medical care, the Lexile Framework can be useful in managing a young person's reading development.

Visit Lexile.com for FAQs and more detailed information about The Lexile Framework.