Wyoming Adopts Lexile and Quantile Measures


Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students Reports Include Measures for Improving Student Reading and Mathematics Abilities at School and Home

CHEYENNE, Wyo., & DURHAM, N.C. - Dec. 9, 2008 - When Wyoming's more than 44,000 students in grades 3-8 and 11 receive their Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) reports in spring 2009, their reading and mathematics scores will be reported as Lexile® and Quantile® measures. The Wyoming Department of Education linked the PAWS with The Lexile Framework® for Reading and The Quantile Framework® for Mathematics last year to provide educators and parents with actionable measures for improving student reading and mathematics achievement. Wyoming is the fourth state to adopt both Lexile and Quantile measures as a means to connect students with instructional materials that meet and challenge their unique abilities.

"By reporting Lexile and Quantile measures from the PAWS, we are providing teachers and parents with the resources they need to help students at all ability levels meet our state learning goals, as well as those mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law," said Jim McBride, superintendent of public instruction. "Because Lexile and Quantile measures support learning in and outside of the classroom, teachers and parents can use these measures to help students strengthen their reading and mathematics abilities and ensure that everyone is on track to achieve at the highest levels possible."

Recognized as the most widely adopted reading measure, Lexile measures are used at the school-level in various capacities in all 50 states. Each year, more than 28 million Lexile measures are reported from state and national assessments, classroom assessments and reading programs, representing about half of U.S. students.

The Lexile Framework is an educational tool that connects readers with reading materials using a common measure called a Lexile. What makes the Lexile Framework unique, and what has led to its widespread adoption, is that it measures both reading ability and text difficulty on the same developmental scale. When used together, Lexile reader measures and Lexile text measures allow educators, parents and students to find books and other materials that meet and challenge a reader's ability and interests or school assignments. More than 115,000 books, 80 million articles and 60,000 Web sites have Lexile measures, and these numbers continue to grow.

Similar to the Lexile Framework, the Quantile Framework provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable educators to describe which mathematical skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and those that will require additional instruction so that students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. Parents also can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home.

"Superintendent McBride and his team at the Wyoming Department of Education understand the important role that assessment plays in informing instruction and improving student achievement," said Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., president, MetaMetrics®, Inc., developer of the Lexile and Quantile Frameworks. "The state's adoption of Lexile and Quantile measures symbolizes their commitment to raising achievement for all students."

PAWS meets the federal testing requirements of No Child Left Behind for language arts (reading and writing) and mathematics in grades 3-8 and 10-12, and for science in grades 4, 8 and 11. Wyoming schools administer both the early PAWS in January and the official PAWS in April. Students who earn successful test scores on one or more of the January tests do not have to take that part of the test again in April. Additional PAWS information is available on the Wyoming Department of Education Web site at visit www.k12.wy.us.

For more information on the Lexile and Quantile Frameworks, visit www.Lexile.com and www.Quantiles.com.

About MetaMetrics Inc.

MetaMetrics, Inc., a privately held educational measurement company, develops scientifically based measures of student achievement that link assessment with instruction, foster better educational practices, and improve learning by matching students with materials that meet and challenge their abilities. The company's team of psychometricians developed the widely adopted Lexile Framework for Reading (www.Lexile.com); El Sistema Lexile para Leer, the Spanish-language version of the Lexile Framework; The Quantile Framework for Mathematics (www.Quantiles.com); and The Lexile Framework for Writing. In addition to licensing Lexile and Quantile measures to state departments of education, testing and instructional companies, and publishers, MetaMetrics delivers professional development, resource measurement and customized consulting services. For more information, visit www.MetaMetricsInc.com.

For more information, press only:
MetaMetrics: Eric Zurowski, 919-547-3453, ezurowski@Lexile.com
Wyoming Department of Education: Tim Lockwood, 307-777-6386, tlockw@educ.state.wy.us