MetaMetrics Partners With KIPP to Offer Lexile Training

DURHAM, NC--(Marketwire - Nov 8, 2011) - MetaMetrics®, developer of the widely adopted Lexile® Framework for Reading, has partnered with KIPP (the Knowledge Is Power Program) to offer educators in its public charter school network training on the value and use of Lexile measures. MetaMetrics has certified a KIPP instructor to deliver workshops on utilizing Lexile measures to help KIPP teachers better differentiate instruction and monitor students' reading growth.

KIPP is a network of 109 open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools serving more than 32,000 students in 20 states and the District of Columbia, 85 percent of whom are from low-income families. According to a 2010 study by Mathematica Policy Research, KIPP is achieving significant and substantial gains for its students in mathematics and reading, while serving a student population that has lower entering test scores and a higher percentage of low-income students than at neighboring district schools.

Most KIPP students receive a Lexile measure from NWEA's MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test and year-end assessments in states that have adopted Lexile measures, including Arizona, California, Georgia and North Carolina.

According to KIPP CEO Richard Barth, Lexile training will better enable educators to use these metrics to help prepare students for postsecondary reading demands. "Our goal is to give our students the knowledge and skills they need to get to and through college," said Barth. "Lexile measures are a valuable tool for our teachers to monitor our students' reading growth at every stage, to make sure they are all college- and career-ready."

College- and career-readiness has always been the end goal of the KIPP program but today it continues to garner more national attention with nearly all states having adopted the Common Core State Standards. The Common Core defines a clear set of K-12 standards to ensure students are preparing for the typical reading demands of college and careers at each grade level. The Standards for English Language Arts provide Lexile grade bands for reading comprehension development to help students prepare for their future academic and professional pursuits.

By 2015, KIPP expects to have 10,000 alumni enrolled in college. According to KIPP's College Completion Report, 33 percent of KIPP students who completed eighth grade ten or more years ago have graduated from a four-year college. This number is higher than the national average for all Americans (31 percent) and four times the rate of students from low-income communities nationwide, only 8 percent of whom graduate college.

"MetaMetrics applauds KIPP for helping our nation's underserved children achieve their dreams of a college education, and for recognizing the unique value that Lexile measures offer in supporting this goal," said MetaMetrics President and co-founder Malbert Smith III, Ph.D. "Lexile measures are the perfect complement to KIPP's curriculum, not only because they allow for the differentiated instruction that helps all students achieve, but because of their ability to track student progress toward college- and career-readiness."

The Lexile Framework is a unique tool for accurately matching readers with text. Unlike other measurement systems, the Lexile Framework evaluates reading ability and growth based on actual assessment results, rather than generalized age or grade levels. Lexile measures help teachers, librarians and parents find books, articles and other resources within a reader's recommended Lexile range: 100L below to 50L above his or her Lexile measure. Reading materials within this optimal Lexile range will challenge the individual's reading ability, while still maintaining interest and learning. Readers are encouraged to use MetaMetrics' free "Find a Book" search tool to build custom book lists based on their Lexile measure and interests, and then locate their selections at a public library. For more information, visit www.Lexile.com.

About KIPP
KIPP (the Knowledge Is Power Program) is a national network of open-enrollment, college-preparatory public charter schools with a track record of preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. KIPP builds a partnership among parents, students and teachers that puts learning first. With an extended school day and year, and a strong culture of achievement, KIPP is proving what is possible in public education. To date, over 85 percent of students who have completed KIPP middle schools have matriculated to college. To learn more, visit www.kipp.org.

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.