What's with those Reading Levels?
The reading level of a text (book, article, etc) indicates how easy or difficulty the material is to read. There are two very important things to remember when thinking of reading levels:
According to MetaMetrics, a Lexile measure provides reading level for either an individual or a piece of text (a book or magazine article). This is represented by a number ranging from below 200L for emergent readers to above 1600L for advanced readers.
Lexile is the official reading level endorsed by the GA Department of Education. Parents in GA receive their students' Lexile levels each spring with their standardized test scores. For more information about Lexile scores, visit the MetaMetrics website. Georgia suggests students in grades 6-8 read in the band of 925 & 1185. To find a book in your Lexile level or to find the level for a book, visit the Lexile website.
Many of our parents are also accustomed to Accelerated Reader levels AR uses a different method for indicating reading level called ATOS. This is a grade-level scale for indicating levels. For example, with the ATOS level, a reader with a 6.2 reading level is reading at the sixth grade, second month level. Similarly, if a book is at the 4.2 reading level, it is equal to readers in the fourth grade, second month. For more information on the ATOS reading level, visit the Renaissance website. Additionally, their article, Matching Books to Students, may be useful to gain a better understanding. For a conversion chart for ATOS vs Lexile, you may be interested in reading this document.
Visit the MetaMetrics website to see the corresponding Lexile measurement for a text or the AR Book Finder to find the ATOS level.
- Reading level is NOT the same as maturity level. There are books with low reading levels that have more mature content. Please don't assume that the maturity level and reading levels go hand in hand. They do not.
- There are many different ways to come up with the reading levels of texts. Two of the most common in GA are Lexile and AR's ATOS level. At BMS we try to provide the reading levels of our materials in both ATOS and Lexile.
According to MetaMetrics, a Lexile measure provides reading level for either an individual or a piece of text (a book or magazine article). This is represented by a number ranging from below 200L for emergent readers to above 1600L for advanced readers.
Lexile is the official reading level endorsed by the GA Department of Education. Parents in GA receive their students' Lexile levels each spring with their standardized test scores. For more information about Lexile scores, visit the MetaMetrics website. Georgia suggests students in grades 6-8 read in the band of 925 & 1185. To find a book in your Lexile level or to find the level for a book, visit the Lexile website.
Many of our parents are also accustomed to Accelerated Reader levels AR uses a different method for indicating reading level called ATOS. This is a grade-level scale for indicating levels. For example, with the ATOS level, a reader with a 6.2 reading level is reading at the sixth grade, second month level. Similarly, if a book is at the 4.2 reading level, it is equal to readers in the fourth grade, second month. For more information on the ATOS reading level, visit the Renaissance website. Additionally, their article, Matching Books to Students, may be useful to gain a better understanding. For a conversion chart for ATOS vs Lexile, you may be interested in reading this document.
Visit the MetaMetrics website to see the corresponding Lexile measurement for a text or the AR Book Finder to find the ATOS level.