Comprehensive FAQ: Scholastic Reading Measure (SRM) - July 7, 2023
About the SRM
What is the Scholastic Reading Measure (SRM)?
The Scholastic Reading Measure is an adaptive reading assessment that provides a valid and reliable Lexile® measure, accurately matching students to books, articles, and short reads. Teachers assign the SRM, and then after students take the SRM, their results immediately appear on the screen and are automatically pulled into Scholastic Teacher and Administrator Dashboard reports and are used within Literacy Pro to match students to books via the “On My Level” filter.
How does the Scholastic Reading Measure (SRM) help to monitor student progress?
The SRM provides students with their current Lexile measure each time they complete the assessment. Lexile measures make it easier for educators to personalize learning, measure student progress, and communicate with parents about their child’s reading.
Additionally, the resulting Lexile measure can be used to monitor if students have been reading books on, below, or above their reading level in Literacy Pro.
Educators are provided with reports that show the Lexile change from the last SRM administration to the current one. General guidelines to identify student independent reading proficiency at different time points during a year are provided.
How was the SRM assessment developed?
The SRM was developed in partnership with MetaMetrics®, using the Lexile® Framework for Reading as a scientific approach to measuring both reading ability and the text complexity of reading materials on the same developmental scale. For more information about the Lexile Framework, check the MetaMetrics website.
For what grades is the SRM designed?
The SRM has been validated for students in grades 1–6 but can be used to assess all students in grades K–12. Scholastic recommends starting with grade 2.
What if I teach Grade K or 1 – do I need to use the SRM?
No, the SRM is an optional assessment. We recommend using the Scholastic Reading Readiness (SRR) assessment which assesses students’ foundational reading skills and helps inform if students are ready to read. We recommend starting to use the SRM in grade 2.
Is the SRM accessible to all learners?
The student experience of the SRM is accessible to all learners. At this time, we have intentionally not optimized the SRM for a cell phone device because the assessment has not been validated in that way. We recommend students complete the assessment on a computer, laptop, or tablet device. The educator and administrator's experiences of assigning the SRM are fully WCAG 2.1 compliant.
Assigning the SRM
Who can assign the SRM?
Teachers and administrators at all levels can assign the SRM. Teachers have the ability to assign the SRM to individual students or their entire class. Administrators have the ability to assign the SRM to entire grade levels, schools, and districts depending on their role.
How often should I assign the SRM?
It is recommended that teachers administer the SRM three times a year: Beginning of Year (BOY), Middle of Year (MOY), and End of Year (EOY). If educators wish to check in more frequently than three times a year, the SRM can be reassigned during any of these time frames, as well. However, there can only be one active assessment during the above-listed time periods.
What are the guidelines for reassigning the SRM within the same time period?
We recommend an 8-12 week gap (and no less than 6 weeks at minimum) between assessments for accuracy, based on how the algorithm weighs results of test administrations that are too close in proximity as well as to prevent student testing fatigue.
What is the impact of assigning too soon after an assessment?
While it is important to monitor student progress, taking the SRM multiple times within a short time frame can have implications on students as well as the results, such as testing fatigue which can lead to inaccurate results. Adequate time between administrations sets students up for success each time they complete it.
What if I decide to edit the SRM after I assign it?
Educators have the option to edit assessments that students have not yet started. Administrators can change the start date/time and the end date/time, and teachers can also optionally give students teacher appraisals to start them at a slightly higher or lower Lexile level if they so choose. In addition, all educators have the option of canceling the assignment at any time.
How will I know if the student already has an SRM in progress or assigned?
The Current Assignments page will display the status of any SRM that has been completed, assigned, scheduled, in progress, canceled, expired, or deleted. Teachers can use the “Status” filter to narrow down the options to only view the ones they are interested in.
What if I have new students who were added to our roster after an assessment has already been assigned?
Administrators have an “Auto Assign” option that they can choose when assigning a new assessment that would automatically assign it to new students who join the grades they selected for the duration of the assessment period.
Who can cancel the SRM once it is assigned?
Regardless of who assigned the SRM, an administrator can cancel it on an individual, class, grade level, school, or district basis (depending on their role) and teachers can cancel it on an individual or class basis. For example, if the district assigned the SRM to a student, a school administrator or a teacher can cancel it.
When can I request to have an SRM score deleted?
On the occasion that a test administration was affected based on specific criteria, such as those that can be identified by the proctor (i.e. student illness, disruptions with the online system), behavioral and credibility issues, or unallowed accommodations, the assessment score may be “invalid.” While it is best practice to avoid these situations or delay the assessment administration until the environment is ideal, we have a recommended protocol for these instances: If a score is suspected to be “invalid,” a teacher can report the situation to their administrator and make a determination about whether the student should retake the assessment. The administrator can then decide to delete the score on their end before the teacher re-assigns the assessment.
Can a teacher delete an SRM Lexile score? What are the impacts of deleting a score for the teacher and the student?
Only administrators are able to delete an SRM score. Teachers should contact their administrator if they believe a student's score should be deleted.
Administrators will be able to choose the “Need to delete a score?” link at the top of the Current Assignments landing page of the SRM. From there, they will select a site, teacher, class, student, and score that they would like to delete. After deleting a score, the deleted assessment and score would appear for the student on their teacher’s Current Assignments page as being deleted. In addition, the deleted score would not count toward the student’s Lexile measure, and a new assessment could be assigned for that student at that time or at a future date.
SRM and Lexile Vs. Guided Reading Levels in Literacy Pro
Is the SRM mandatory within Literacy Pro?
No, the SRM is an optional assessment that educators can assign to students. If educators use a different method to assess a Lexile measure, they have the option to manually add the measure individually by student as well.
Which result appears in the CSV export?
The most recent Lexile score for each of the assessment periods will appear in the CSV export.
The SRM was assigned to my class. Why am I not seeing the resulting Lexile levels in the reports?
You likely have your settings set to show Guided Reading Level. Go to “Settings” and change your leveling system to “Lexile.”
I assigned my students the SRM, and my settings are set at Guided Reading Level. Why are my students’ GRL scores not showing up?
The SRM results in a Lexile level, and not a Guided Reading Level. The Lexile level does not convert to a GRL.
What if I manually entered the Lexile level for my student in Literacy Pro already?
If an educator assigns the SRM for the same assessment period (beginning, middle, or end of the year) where there was already a level entered – whether that level was entered manually or from a prior SRM score – the new SRM Lexile measure will supersede it. However, all scores will be recorded in the Leveling Reports.
What if I don’t want to use Lexile for my classes?
Educators have the option to set their leveling system to Lexile or Guided Reading Level. If educators choose to use Guided Reading Levels, they are able to enter GRLs by individual students.
What is the difference between GRL and Lexile, and how does it affect Literacy Pro suggestions?
If a student has a Lexile measure in Literacy Pro – whether it was manually entered or from the SRM – then they will be able to filter for books that match their Lexile reading level via the “On My Level” filter as long as their teacher has set their leveling system to Lexile in the Settings section on Literacy Pro.
If a teacher has manually entered a GRL level for a student and has set their leveling system to GRL in the Settings section on Literacy Pro, then students will be able to filter for books matching their GRL reading level via the “On My Level” filter.
Does Literacy Pro allow you to track both GRL and Lexile levels side-by-side?
Literacy Pro will allow you to track both Lexile and GRL for each student, but teachers can only view one leveling system at a time, which can be set from the Settings section in Literacy Pro.
What if I employ GRL in my classrooms, but I would like to still assign the SRM (Lexile assessment)?
Educators using the GRL leveling system can still assign the SRM. However, the Lexile measures for book titles will not be shown unless the leveling system is set to “Lexile” in the “Settings” section of Literacy Pro.
Teachers can see reports for both Lexile and Guided Reading Levels, but in isolation based on the settings of the class.
Student Experience
How do I set my students up for success with the SRM?
This video explains the SRM to students and is a helpful tool to set students up for success.
How many questions are included in the SRM?
The SRM includes up to 32 questions and one practice question for a total of 33 items. If a student uses the three skips, they will still have to answer 32 actual questions.
What type of questions are asked within the assessment?
For each question, the student reads a short passage and then selects the best word to complete the sentence.
Are students able to skip questions?
Yes, students are allowed to skip up to three questions.
At what level does the student start taking the assessment?
When a student takes the SRM for the first time, either they will be associated with the reading level range based on the grade set for the class (which is considered “on-level”), or, the educator may optionally enter a “Teacher Appraisal” indicating if the student is “below level”, “on-level”, or “above level.” Either method simply helps guide the starting point of the SRM. The SRM then will adapt to the student’s performance on the assessment. When a student takes an assessment later in the year, they will start within the reading level range from the result of the last assessment taken.
How difficult are the assessment questions?
The SRM is adaptive, so the difficulty of the questions changes according to the student’s performance. If the student answers a question correctly, they will go on to a more difficult question. If another student answers the same question incorrectly, they will go to an easier question.
How will the student know that they need to complete the SRM?
Students will be able to access the SRM right from a new launch tile on SDM called “Scholastic Reading Measure.” If an assessment has been assigned to them, they will be able to access it immediately upon clicking the launch tile If they do not have an assessment assigned to them - or if the start date is in the future - they see a message stating that one has not been assigned to them and to come back at a later time.
How long will it take for a student to complete?
Though it depends largely on a student’s abilities, it is estimated that the SRM could take 30–60 minutes to complete. Students do not need to complete the SRM in one session. All questions answered will be automatically saved and the student can pick up where they left off in the assessment. Once completed, the student will see their Lexile level on the final screen. This Lexile level will then be automatically captured in Literacy Pro as well as the educator’s data dashboard.
How does the student know they have completed the assessment?
The test will end with a final screen that displays the student’s Lexile level and a prompt to close the assessment.
Does the SRM have read-to-me functionality for the practice questions?
No, the SRM does not have any read-to-me included within the assessment.
How does the result of the SRM affect the students’ experience within Literacy Pro?
While students are encouraged to choose book titles based on their interests and grade, when the student’s information is updated with a reading level, Literacy Pro will help guide the student to books that match their reading level via the “On My Level” filter and icon on the book title card that indicates that the title is within their reading level range.
Is the SRM available in other languages?
No, the SRM is currently only available in English.