Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
Stuart Greenberg
Just Read, Florida! and the Office of Early Learning
Florida Department of Education
Standards changes are hard, but they are
especially hard in this case…
 These standards are at a higher level than
previous standards.
 These standards have a different style and
organizational structure that makes them
more challenging for schools to work with.
 Common core standards are based on
different theories (reading comprehension,
writing, differentiated instruction) than past
standards, so they are qualitatively different
in several ways.
The Text Complexity: The Missing Standard
3
Challenging Text
Text difficulty is central and all cognitive skills have
to be executed within texts of a specified difficulty
range.
• Students will likely be taught from texts that
are more challenging than in the past.
• Emphasis on stretching students to meet the
demands of reading harder text (rather than
on placing students in the leveled reader
according to instructional level).
• Need to learn how to scaffold challenging
reading.
Common Core State Standards
Text Complexity
5
The Common Core State Standards places a strong
emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating
student readiness for college and careers.
“The Common Core
State Standards hinge on students
encountering appropriately
complex texts at each grade level in order to develop the
mature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they
need for success in school and life.” (p. 3)
Text Complexity
6
Included within the Standards is an enhanced focus on text
complexity.
Specifically, within reading standard #10:
Anchor Standard:
 R.CCR.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and
informational texts independently and proficiently.
Example Grade-level Standard (6th grade):
 RI.6.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend
literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band
proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of
the range.
Guiding Questions
7
What do the Common Core Learning Standards mean by text
complexity?
What is a text complexity band?
and
How do we ensure the texts our students are reading are in the
appropriate text complexity band?
Text Complexity
Key to Student Reading Success
8
Text complexity matters because….
“making textbooks easier ultimately denies students
the very language, information, and modes of
thought they need most to move up and on.”
-Marilyn Jager Adams
Text Complexity - ACT Study
9
 Purpose: Determine what distinguished the
reading performance of students likely to succeed
in college and not.
•
Process:
Set benchmark score on the reading test shown
to be predictive of success in college (“21” on
ACT composite score).
Looked at results from a half million students.
Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Comprehension Level
10
(Averaged across Seven Forms)
Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Textual Element
(Averaged across11Seven Forms)
Text Complexity Matters
12
Texts used in the ACT Reading Test
reflect three degrees of complexity:
 uncomplicated,
 more challenging, and
 complex.
Performance on the ACT Reading Test
by Degree of Text Complexity
(Averaged across Seven Forms)
13
13
Recap of ACT Findings
14
Question type and level (main idea, word meanings, details) is
NOT the chief differentiator between student scoring above
and below the benchmark.
The degree of text complexity in the passages acted as the
“sorters” within ACT. The findings held true for both males and
females, all racial groups and was steady regardless of family
income level.
What students could read, in terms of its complexity--rather
than what they could do with what they read—is greatest
predictor of success. FCAT has complex passages and highly
cognitive demanding questions.
Overview of Text
Text Complexity
15
Text complexity is defined by:
Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure,
language conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands often best measured by an
attentive human reader.
Quantitative measures – readability and other scores
of text complexity often best measured by
computer software.
Reader and Task considerations – background
knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and
complexity generated by tasks assigned often best
made by educators employing their professional
judgment.
Reader and
Task
Where do we find texts in the
appropriate text complexity band?
16
We could….
Choose an excerpt of
text from Appendix B as
a starting place:
Use available resources to
determine the text
complexity of other
materials on our own.
or…
Step 1: Quantitative Measures
17
Quantitative Measures
Measures such as:
• Word length
• Word frequency
• Word difficulty
• Sentence length
• Text length
• Text cohesion
18
Step 2: Qualitative Measures
19
Measures such as:
• Structure
• Language Demands and
Conventions
• Knowledge Demands
• Levels of Meaning/Purpose
Step 2: Qualitative Measures
20
The Qualitative Measures Rubrics
for Literary and Informational Text:
The rubric for literary text and the rubric for informational text
allow educators to evaluate the important elements of text that are
often missed by computer software that tends to focus on more
easily measured factors.
Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
21
Structure (could be story structure and/or form of piece)
Simple  Complex
Explicit  Implicit
Conventional Unconventional
Events related in chronological order  Events related out
of chronological order (chiefly literary texts)
 Traits of a common genre or subgenre  Traits specific to
a particular discipline (chiefly informational texts)
 Simple graphics  sophisticated graphics
 Graphics unnecessary or merely supplemental to
understanding the text  Graphics essential to
understanding the text and may provide information not
elsewhere provided
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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
22
Language Demands: Conventionality and Clarity
Literal  Figurative or ironic
Clear  Ambiguous or purposefully misleading
Contemporary, familiar  Archaic or otherwise unfamiliar
Conversational  General Academic and domain specific
Light vocabulary load: few unfamiliar or academic words Many
words unfamiliar and high academic vocabulary present
 Sentence structure straightforward Complex and varied sentence
structures
 Though vocabulary can be measured by quantifiable means, it is still
a feature for careful consideration when selecting texts
 Though sentence length is measured by quantifiable means,
sentence complexity is still a feature for careful consideration when
selecting texts
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Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
23
Knowledge Demands: Life Experience
(literary texts)
 Simple theme  Complex or sophisticated themes
 Single theme  Multiple themes
 Common everyday experiences or clearly fantastical
situations  Experiences distinctly different from one’s
own
 Single perspective  Multiple perspectives
 Perspective(s) like one’s own  Perspective(s) unlike or in
opposition to one’s own
Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
24
Knowledge Demands: Cultural/Literary Knowledge
(chiefly literary texts)
 Everyday knowledge and familiarity with genre
conventions required  Cultural and literary
knowledge useful
 Low intertextuality (few if any references/allusions
to other texts)  High intertextuality (many
references/allusions to other texts
Common Core Standards
Qualitative Features of Text Complexity
25
Levels of Meaning (chiefly literary texts) or
purpose (chiefly informational texts)
 Single level of meaning Multiple levels of meaning
 Explicitly stated purpose  Implicit purpose, may be
hidden or obscure
Step 3: Reader and Task
26
Considerations such as:
• Motivation
• Knowledge and experience
• Purpose for reading
• Complexity of task assigned
regarding text
• Complexity of questions asked
regarding text
Multiple Texts
The common core state standards emphasize the
interpretation of multiple texts throughout (at all
grade levels, and in reading, writing, and oral
language).
• There will be a greater need for combinations of
texts that can be used together.
• Need for greater emphasis on text synthesis (how
to combine the information from multiple sources
into one’s own text or presentation).
• Need for greater emphasis on comparative
evaluation and analysis.
Reader and Task
Ten Guiding Principles
28
1. Make close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
2. Provide scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text.
3. Ask text dependent questions from a range of question
types.
4. Emphasize students supporting answers based upon
evidence from the text.
5. Provide extensive research and writing opportunities
(claims and evidence).
Reader and Task
Ten Guiding Principles
29
6. Offer regular opportunities for students to share ideas,
evidence and research.
7. Offer systematic instruction in vocabulary.
8. Ensure wide reading from complex text that varies in
length.
9. Provide explicit instruction in grammar and
conventions.
10. Cultivate students’ independence.
Conclusion
The promise of standards:
These Standards are not intended to be new names for
old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the
next step. It is time for districts to work together to build
on lessons learned from two decades of standards based
reforms. It is time to recognize that standards are not
just promises to our children, but promises we intend to
keep.