Lexile and Accelerated Reader Information Now in Catalog

Through a new automated process, Lexile and Accelerated Reader information has been added to 44,000 juvenile and teen listings in the library catalog. Both Lexile and Accelerated Reader are reading level indicators used by teachers and parents to evaluate where a child is reading and to guide readers to books within their level. For families or educators that regularly use these indicators, checking out books within a certain reading level will now be easier than ever.

Accelerated Reader

Most of the Poudre School District Elementary Schools use Accelerated Reader as a way of tracking students’ reading. Kids take a placement test to receive their reading range. When they finish a book, they take an AR test and earn points. Many teachers have points requirements for students and also require that students read within their reading range. With the new reading level information in the library catalog, it will be much easier for parents and kids to find books within their AR level.

Here is an example of how AR listings work:

The listing Accelerated Reader AR LG 4.4 0.5 6098 provides the following information:
Accelerated Reader LG – lower grades for an interest level (LG grades K-3, MG for middle grades 4-8, MG+ for middle grades 6+, UG grades 9-12)
4.4 – reading level
0.5 – number of points gained by passing the test
6098 is the test number (which you can input into AR BookFinder to find the book)

Lexil Framework

The Lexil Framework also measures a reader’s level and reading comprehension using a slightly different approach. Students receive a Lexile reader measure while books receive a Lexile text measure. When used together, these measures can help match readers with material that is at an appropriate difficulty. Ideally, the Lexil text measure will fall within the range of a Lexile reader measure. The reader will encounter some difficulty with the text, but not enough to get frustrated, helping the student grow as a reader.

With these two new reading level indicators included in the Library catalog, it will be easier than ever for readers and books to be paired up.