Follett Renews Partnership With MetaMetrics to Promote Reading Growth

DURHAM, NC--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2014) - Follett, the largest education solutions provider in the U.S., has solidified its ongoing partnership with MetaMetrics®, the developer of the Lexile® Framework for Reading. This marriage of education-focused content and reading data helps ease educators' struggles to connect students with age and reading level appropriate books, ebooks and digital resources.

Lexile measures, used in all 50 states, are receiving renewed attention as districts work to align their content and implement the Common Core State Standards. Readability, as represented by a reading level (Lexile measure), is a quantitative measure -- one of three components that comprise text complexity, a critical theme in Common Core and literacy. Each year, more than 30 million Lexile measures are reported from reading assessments and programs, which represents over 50 percent of students in the United States.

Lexile measures are a staple in Follett's Titlewave, the company's popular book search and ordering tool. Educators can search for and buy titles based on Lexile measures, while students can search the library catalog by his or her Lexile range using Follett's Destiny Library Manager.

"We use Lexile measures in Titlewave to fill in gaps in our collection to make certain we have good, interesting books available," said Ann Fondren, who recently retired as district library coordinator at Spotsylvania (Va.) County Schools after a 32-year career at the district. "Searching with Lexile measures in Destiny Library Manager allows students to independently search for topics, genres and books within the appropriate level."

Now, Follett is weaving Lexile measures into new products such as Follett Shelf Classroom Connections, an interactive, eContent-based instructional tool for teachers and students.

"Teachers can create reading paths or ebook reading lists by various approaches, including by reading level," said Dr. Margaret Ronnett, director of classroom, Follett School Solutions. "They can build ebook lists of different Lexile ranges for individual, small group, and whole-group activities. The Lexile measures and ranges give teachers the information they need to know if a book is well within a student's reading skill ability or higher up within the Lexile grade level range, which would offer that student greater challenge and support their skill development."

This same approach is being integrated into many other Follett products, including WebPath Express, an educational search tool that provides students with more than 85,000 safe, trustworthy and relevant websites while filtering out questionable content. Students can sort these results by Lexile level as well.

"We are thrilled our metric for text complexity is incorporated into Follett's powerful classroom tools," said Dr. Malbert Smith III, president and cofounder, MetaMetrics. "The use of Lexile measures to promote targeted reading supports our shared goal of bolstering student engagement and achievement."

According to George Gatsis, Follett's vice president of strategy and strategic partnerships, "This represents the continuation of a long and valuable partnership. Both of our companies share similar missions in helping PreK-12 students to achieve their goals at every stage of development, plus preparing them for college and career demands."

For more information on Follett, visit follettlearning.com.

About MetaMetrics
MetaMetrics is focused on improving education for learners of all ages and ability levels. The organization develops scientific measures of academic achievement and complementary technologies that link assessment results with real-world instruction. MetaMetrics' products and services for reading (The Lexile® Framework for Reading, El Sistema Lexile® para Leer), mathematics (The Quantile® Framework for Mathematics) and writing (The Lexile® Framework for Writing) provide unique insights about academic ability and the potential for growth, enabling individuals to achieve their goals at every stage of development. Connect with the organization at: http://blog.lexile.com.

About Follett's PreK-12 Business | follettlearning.com
Follett is the largest provider of educational materials and technology solutions to PreK-12 libraries, classrooms, learning centers and school districts in the United States, and a major supplier to educational institutions worldwide. Follett distributes books, reference materials, digital resources, ebooks and audiovisual materials, as well as pre-owned textbooks. Follett also is one of the leading providers of integrated educational technology for the management of physical and digital assets, the tracking, storing and analyzing of academic data, and digital learning environment tools for the classroom focusing on student achievement.

About Follett Corporation | follett.com
Since 1873, Follett has served as the trusted partner in education for students and educators at all levels of learning. Today Follett delivers physical and digital learning materials, retail services, school content and management systems to more than 70,000 early childhood, primary and secondary schools, and on more than 1,000 college campuses. Headquartered in River Grove, Illinois, Follett is a $2.7 billion privately held company.