Lexile® and Quantile® Measures in North Carolina

The Lexile Framework® for Reading, commonly referred to as the Lexile Framework, has been linked with the North Carolina End-of-Grade Assessment in English Language Arts in grades 3–8 and North Carolina End-of-Course in English II. Similarly, The Quantile Framework® for Mathematics has been linked to Edition 5 of the North Carolina End-of-Grade mathematics assessments in grades 3–8 and North Carolina End-of-Course in Math 1. Students in North Carolina also may be receiving Lexile and Quantile measures from a variety of different tests and programs used by their local schools. With Lexile and Quantile measures, educators and parents can spur and support student learning.

What is a Lexile® measure?

There are two kinds of Lexile measures: Lexile reader measures and Lexile text measures. Lexile reader measures describe how strong a student’s reading is. Lexile text measures describe how difficult, or complex, a text like a book or magazine article is. Lexile measures are expressed as numbers followed by an “L” (for example, 850L), and range from below 0L for beginning readers and text to above 1600L for advanced readers and text. Comparing a student’s Lexile measure with the Lexile measure of what they are reading helps gauge the “fit” between a student’s ability and the difficulty of text.

What is a Quantile® measure?

Similar to Lexile measures, there are two types of Quantile measures: a measure for students and a measure for mathematics skills and concepts. The student measure describes what mathematics the student likely already understands and what the student is ready to learn in the future. The skill measure describes the difficulty, or demand, in learning the skill. Quantile measures are expressed as numbers followed by a "Q" (for example, 850Q) and range from emerging mathematician (below 0Q) to above 1600Q. The Quantile Framework spans the developmental continuum from the content typically taught in kindergarten to Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Pre-Calculus. Quantile measures help educators and parents target instruction and monitor student growth toward learning standards and the mathematics demands of college and careers.

Educator Academy

Overview Video

The Educator Academy was developed in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The program provides meaningful instruction that helps educators learn how to use Lexile and Quantile measures to differentiate instruction, communicate effectively with parents and peers, and improve student learning. 

Each course includes:

  • 10 hours of self-paced coursework for each course (90 days to complete),
  • collaboration with an online professional learning community, and a 
  • certification upon completion.