• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Mississippi Students to Receive New Math and Reading Measures on State Test Reports

Posted on: Wednesday, 6 July 2005, 06:00 CDT

State First to Link Both New Math Measure and Widely Adopted Reading Measure to Grade-Level Tests

When Mississippi students in grades 2-8 start the 2005-2006 school year, their teachers will have powerful new tools for using assessment to improve math and reading abilities. All 260,000 students will receive Quantile(R) measures for mathematics and Lexile(R) measures for reading on their 2005 grade-level test reports. Mississippi is the first state to link both Lexiles and Quantiles to its assessments, as the result of an agreement announced today by the Mississippi Department of Education and MetaMetrics Inc., developer of The Lexile Framework(R) for Reading and The Quantile Framework(R) for Mathematics.

As the most widely used reading measure in use today, Lexiles provide a common scale for matching reader ability and text difficulty, allowing easy monitoring of student progress and reading comprehension. Launched in 2004, Quantiles measure math ability on a scientific, developmental scale similar to the way Lexiles measure reading ability.

"In Mississippi, we are making great strides in student achievement in all subject areas, but we are always looking for ways to enhance student learning," said Henry L. Johnson, Ph.D., state superintendent of education, Mississippi. "As the first state to adopt both Quantiles and the widely used Lexiles, we are providing teachers with important tools for linking state reading and math assessment results to classroom instruction, which will continue to improve student learning."

Lexiles are recognized as the most accurate way to match readers with text. There are currently Lexile measures for more than 100,000 books and more than 80 million articles. More than 20 million students will receive a Lexile measure during the 2005-2006 school year.

The Quantile scale represents mathematic ability ranging from understanding how to read mathematical expressions to knowing how and why to apply various types of mathematical knowledge in areas such as geometry; measurement; numbers and operations; algebra; and data analysis and probability.

"We are proud that Mississippi, a state that demonstrates a strong commitment to improving teaching and learning, is the first to add Quantiles as well as Lexiles to its test reports," said Malbert Smith III, Ph.D., president, MetaMetrics Inc. "Our team looks forward to collaborating with the department of education to provide teachers with professional development and training resources to ensure that they successfully use the measures to support classroom instruction."

As part of the agreement, MetaMetrics is developing customized resources to help Mississippi administrators, educators and parents use Lexiles and Quantiles to improve student reading and math skills. Additionally, the company will offer professional development workshops to classroom teachers during the 2005-2006 school year.

About The Lexile Framework for Reading/The Quantile Framework for Mathematics

MetaMetrics Inc. developed The Lexile Framework for Reading and its companion scale, The Quantile Framework for Mathematics. The Lexile Framework provides a common scale for matching reader ability and text difficulty, enabling teachers and parents to choose materials that can help to improve student reading skills and monitor literacy across the curriculum and at home. Recognized as the most widely adopted reading measure in use today, Lexiles are part of reading and testing programs at the district, state and federal levels. More than 100,000 books and 80 million articles have Lexile measures, and all major standardized tests can report student reading scores in Lexiles. Launched in 2004, Quantiles measure student mathematical ability similar to the way Lexiles measure reading proficiency. The Quantile Framework represents mathematical ability ranging from understanding how to read mathematical expressions to knowing how and why to apply various types of mathematical knowledge to geometry; measurement; numbers and operations; algebra; and data analysis and probability.

MetaMetrics, Lexile, Lexile Framework, the Lexile symbol, Quantile, Quantile Framework and the Quantile symbol are trademarks or U.S. registered trademarks of MetaMetrics Inc. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. (C) 2005 MetaMetrics Inc.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category