Lexile® & Quantile® Measures

The California Department of Education (CDE) has partnered with MetaMetrics® to provide additional measures of students' abilities in reading and mathematics. Lexile measures indicate students' reading abilities and Quantile measures indicate students' readiness for instruction in mathematics. Access the Introducing Lexile and Quantile Measures web document for additional information about these measures.

The Lexile Framework for Reading and Quantile Framework for Mathematics have been linked to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics assessments. Students who complete these assessments will receive a separate Lexile and Quantile Measures Report. Access the Sample Lexile and Quantile Measures Report for an overview of sample measures and suggested resources.

Lexile Measures

A Lexile measure indicates the difficulty of materials a student can read and understand. It is based on a student's Smarter Balanced ELA score. With the help of Lexile measures, parents and educators can find reading materials at the appropriate difficulty level for students and monitor their growth in reading over time.

Parents and guardians can refer to the MetaMetrics Lexile Parent Guide external icon and About Lexile Measures for Reading external icon web page for additional information about Lexile measures.

Quantile Measures

A Quantile measure shows what mathematical skills a student has mastered and which skills they need additional instruction in. It is based on a student's Smarter Balanced mathematics score. With the help of Quantile measures, parents and educators can identify the mathematical skills needed to support students' learning and monitor their growth in mathematics over time.

Parents and guardians can refer to the MetaMetrics Quantile Parent Guide external icon and What is a Quantile Measure? external icon web page for additional information about Quantile measures.

Communications Toolkit

The following deliverables have been developed to support the introduction of Lexile and Quantile measures and the Hub to parents/guardians.

Measures Reporting

Lexile and Quantile measures are reported on a separate Lexile and Quantile Measures Report. Distribution of the Lexile and Quantile Measures Reports is optional. If a school or local educational agency chooses to distribute these reports through their student information system (SIS) or parent portal, they should confirm with their SIS vendor that they have met the most recent Application Programming Interface Specifications for reporting.

Coordinators can access the Lexile and Quantile Measures Reports in the Test Operations Management System (TOMS) using the following methods:

  • Similar to other CAASPP Student Score Reports, the Lexile and Quantile Measures Reports are available as PDF files. Coordinators can access these files by navigating to the [Reports] tab and selecting “CAASPP Student Score Reports PDFs.” Then select “Lexile/Quantile” from the Assessments drop-down menu.
  • Additionally, the Lexile and Quantile measures are included in the “CAASPP Student Score Data File.”

Lexile & Quantile Hub

The Lexile & Quantile Hub contains instructional planning resources for educators and a variety of tools that support the monitoring of student growth in reading and mathematics toward goals of college and career readiness. Parents/guardians, educators, and students can access a wealth of free, web-based tools to help find appropriately challenging learning materials. For additional information about the Hub, please visit the CAASPP Lexile & Quantile Hub web page.

Additional Information

For additional information and support, visit the Lexile & Quantile Support external icon web page.