A Text Readability Continuum for Postsecondary Readiness
Lexile text measures were used to describe the demands of reading materials students are likely to encounter in the last years of high school and in postsecondary endeavors.
Students who successfully exit high school may nevertheless be unprepared for postsecondary endeavors. Some point to a lack of basic skills attained in the public schools. However, no one has systematically compared the text demands of high school with those of the postsecondary world. If there is a gap in text readability then apparent student unreadiness could be a function of different text demands rather than a deficiency in student ability. This study investigated the gap between high school textbooks and various reading materials in the most widely chosen postsecondary domains of endeavor--the university, workplace, military and citizenship. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)