Study: Textbook reading levels low
Salinas Californian 5/4/07
Textbooks used by county high schools don't offer the reading levels students need for college or a competitive business environment, according to a reading report study released to Salinas-area educators that day.
The study, conducted by the Marina-based Monterey County Business Council, includes analysis by the International Center for Leadership in Education, an education think tank based in New York state.
"The textbooks educators are using in class are fine for the subject they teach," said Liz Kuzmich, a senior consultant for the center. "But there needs to be a way to prepare students to get the technical vocabulary they need for entry-level jobs."
Kuzmich said textbooks are at appropriate reading levels for students, but added that she would like to see schools form partnerships with businesses to share documents such as employment handbooks and tax forms.
She said students in the 21st century must be highly technical, adaptable and electronically social, among other things. Educators who attended Thursday's release said they agree that schools need to work with the business community to create more education opportunities.
"The study proves the obvious," said Alisal Union School District board member Jose Castañeda, "that schools and businesses need to work to engage students - and the earlier, the better."
On the 2,000-point Lexile scale, high school texts offered by the county are 100 to 500 points below the median reading levels of written materials commonly used in adult life and the work force, the study said. The Lexile framework is a widely recognized 2,000-point scale used to match text difficulty with reader ability.
The study looked at textbooks and novels county students read in school and compared the texts' reading levels with those of business forms in several industries.