Lexile measures and age-banding

The Lexile Framework™ for Reading & the age-banding debate

The current debate about the inclusion of age guidance on the back of books doesn’t look like it’s one that will go away soon. The motives of both sides carry merit: those in favour of age-banding want to empower those who aren’t comfortable with book buying by providing them with guidance; those against are keenly aware that children’s reading ability develops at such different rates.

Regardless of whether you are an advocate or adversary of age-banding, it is vital that parents get the support they need to help boost their children’s reading skills. A Lexile measure can provide this support – whether it stands beside age guidance on books or instead of.

In fact, Lexile measures could become key in neutralising the debate. By placing reading ability and text difficulty on the same scale, readers easily can be connected to books that do not include age guidance. Similarly, for books with age guidance, a buyer can turn to the Lexile measure to ascertain whether the book’s age-banding is appropriate for an individual reader.

It then would be easier for parents to select non-age-banded books for their child’s individual interests and ability, while the approximate judgments on age suitability carried by age-banded books could be reinforced by a second, more accurate measure based on reader ability.

When the Lexile Book Database comes into play, it is possible to personalise reading even further. Once a child has received a Lexile measure, it can be entered into the Lexile Book Database, along with information on the child’s favourite books and subjects, in order to arrive at a bespoke list of recommended reading that is unique to that child’s reading ability and interests.

During the course of the age-banding debate, author Philip Pullman has argued that “each book is unique and so is each reader” and, while the first transaction for the book is its purchase, the real transaction is when the reader commits to the book.[1]

It could be argued that The Lexile Framework for Reading is a powerful means of ensuring both of these transactions are successful.

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[1] Source: Article by Julia Eccleshare in guardian.co.uk, Monday September 01 2008

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