The Lexile® audio measure is an indicator of the complexity of an audio passage. It is based on a scientifically developed scale by Metametrics and impacted by a variety of factors, including vocabulary, grammar, word sounds, and speech delivery.
Lexile audio measures do not account for the maturity or relevance of the subject matter in the story. Many low-level stories are appropriate for older students, and high-level stories may be suitable for younger students.
Metametrics is the creator of both the Lexile Framework for Reading and the Lexile Framework for Listening. The Lexile audio measure is related to the Lexile text measure, and they are on a similar scale for comparison purposes, but they are not interchangeable.
Although these two Lexile measures are determined using many of the same features and are highly correlated, they were developed with different measurement goals, so they may produce different Lexile measures for the same passage. The Lexile text measure addresses the comprehension challenge a student is likely to face when reading a text, regardless of how efficiently the student reads. The Lexile audio measure addresses the challenge a student will face when comprehending the material through listening.
How to Use the Lexile Audio Measures
How to Find the Lexile Audio Measure
Recommended Lexile Audio Measures by Grade Level
How to Use the Lexile Audio Measures
Lexile audio measures can help teachers find audio stories at an appropriate level of complexity for their students, in order to challenge them without causing frustration. The measures are categorized into low, medium, and high levels to aid teachers in audio story selection.
The Lexile audio measure is one of several factors to consider when selecting audio stories for students. Other factors include students’ age, interests, background knowledge, and English language proficiency, as well as the degree of scaffolding provided.
In general, elementary educators may want to start with low-level stories (Lexile levels 0L-1550L), middle-grade educators with medium-level stories (1345L -1855L), and high school educators with high-level stories (1600L-2000L+). Teachers of English language learners should start with low-level stories for students at beginning and intermediate proficiency levels, and medium-level stories for students at advanced proficiency levels. Appropriate Lexile audio levels will vary by student.
How to Find the Lexile Audio Measure
With Listenwise Premium, every podcast has a Lexile audio measure, along with a low, medium, or high listening level designation. This measure will help teachers connect students to audio content at a level of complexity that is appropriate for their listening comprehension skills.
Recommended Lexile Audio Measures by Grade Level
These recommended ranges are for instructional use of Listenwise audio content. Suggested Lexile audio measure ranges are higher when students are listening with extensive scaffolding, such as vocabulary instruction, building background knowledge, listening organizers, class discussion, audio playback, slowed audio, interactive transcripts, embedded dictionaries, text-to-speech, etc.
These ranges are provided as a starting point. Teachers should select lessons suitable for their particular students and instructional context. Teachers may consider lowering the recommended grade ranges by ~200L for students at beginning or intermediate levels of English language proficiency. Educators will also find that lessons with more scaffolding, such as those in the ELD/ESL Lesson Library, will increase access to those audio stories for students at lower levels of English language proficiency.
Additional Information
For more information about how the Lexile audio measure was developed, download The Lexile Framework for Listening: Building Tools for Success.
You can also watch this webinar:
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