Outcomes for This
Session
Receive background
knowledge about the
Common Core Reading
Standards and Text
Complexity
Who is Responsible?
Elementary
teachers
K-5
Science, Social
Studies, &
History
teachers
6-12
Secondary
ELA teachers
6-12
Common Core Standards
REVIEW THE STANDARDS FOR YOUR GRADE LEVEL (5 minutes)
• What do you see? HIGHLIGHT GREEN
• What do you notice? HIGHLIGHT YELLOW
PARTNER WITH MEMBERS FROM 2 ADJACENT GRADE LEVELS (5
minutes)
• What do you see between grade levels? HIGHLIGHT PINK
• What do you notice about student readiness? HIGHLIGHT ORANGE
4 Reading Standard Strands (K-12)
Key Ideas and Details
Strand
(3 Standards)
Integration of
Knowledge and Ideas
Strand
(3 Standards)
ELA for Literature,
Informational- ELA
Science, SS & History
Craft and Structure
Strand
(3 Standards)
Range and Level of
Text Complexity
Strand
(1 Standard)
10 College and Career Readiness
Anchor Standards for Reading (K-12)
Range and Level of Text
Complexity
See
Standards
Document
K-5
Page 11
6-8
Page 36
10. Read and comprehend complex
literary and informational texts
independently and proficiently
9-12
Page 38
Content
Pages 6162
Increasing text complexity is
Required for
College and Career Readiness
Look at Text Exemplars
GO TO: Appendix B--Table of Contents
pages 4-13
1--Find your grade level range in the
 Elementary (K-5)
 Middle (6-8)
 High School (9-12)
2--Look at:
 Excerpts
 Performance Tasks
Shifts in ELA/ Literacy
Shift 1
Building Knowledge
Through Content-Rich
Non-Fiction
Building knowledge through content rich
non-fiction plays an essential role in
literacy and in the Standards.
Shift 2
Reading, Writing, and
Speaking Grounded in
Evidence from Text,
Both Literary and
Informational
The Standards place a premium on
students writing to sources, i.e., using
evidence from texts to present careful
analyses, well-defended claims, and clear
information.
Shift 3
Regular Practice with
Complex Text and its
Academic Language
Rather than focusing solely on the skills of
reading and writing, the Standards
highlight the growing complexity of the
texts students must read to be ready for the
demands of college and careers.
Refer to Shifts Handout
Why Text Complexity ?
 Performance on complex texts is the clearest
differentiator in reading between students
who are likely to be ready for college and
those who are not.
 This is true for both genders, all
racial/ethnic groups, and all annual family
income levels.
ACT Reading Between the Lines
Text complexity is
defined by
3 factors:
1. Reader and Task – background
knowledge of reader, motivation,
interests, and complexity
generated by tasks assigned
2. Quantitative measures –
readability and other
scores of text complexity
3. Qualitative measures – levels
of meaning, structure, language
conventionality and clarity, and
knowledge demands
Reader and Task
Quantitative Dimensions
• Word length/frequency
• Sentence length
• Text Cohesion
Evaluating Text Complexity
Lexiles are quantitative measures
 Lexile measures are based on two well-
established predictors of how difficult a text is
to comprehend: word length, frequency, and
sentence length.
 More Information:


http://www.lexile.com/
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards
Figure 3: Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges (in Lexiles)
Text Complexity
Grade
Band in the Standards
Old Lexile Ranges
Lexile Ranges Aligned
to
CCR expectations
K–1
N/A
N/A
2–3
450–725
450–790
4–5
645–845
770–980
6–8
860–1010
955–1155
9–10
960–1115
1080–1305
11–CCR
1070–1220
1215–1355
Life After Graduation
“Student Readiness for Postsecondary Options”
Gary Williamson, Ph.D. (2004)
Median Text Measures:
• 11th/12th grade (LA/SS textbooks):
• Military (training/field manuals):
• Citizenship (newspapers, voting, jury):
• Workplace (Daggett study materials):
• Postsecondary - first two yrs (textbooks):
– GED Test Materials:
– SAT/ACT Test Materials:
1090L
1180L
1230L
1260L
1355L
1060L
1180L
College and Career Readiness Skills
Reading Demand of Newspapers
Match the
Newspaper to the
appropriate lexile.
Note one lexile will
be used more than
once.
•
•
•
•
•
•
1200L
1310L
1320L
1350L
1380L
1440L
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USA Today
Wall Street Journal
New York Times
Washington Post
Chicago Tribune
Reuters
Associated Press
College and Career Readiness Skills
Reading Demand of Newspapers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USA Today (1200L)
Associated Press (1310L)
Chicago Tribune (1310L)
Wall Street Journal (1320L)
Washington Post (1350L)
NY Times (1380L)
Reuters (1440L)
Limitations of Lexile Measures
What Lexile text measures do not address
Text Characteristics
Reader Characteristics
Age-appropriateness of
Interest and motivation
Background knowledge
Reading context and
the content
Text support (e.g., pictures,
pull-outs)
Text quality (i.e., Is it a
purpose
good book?)
Lexile text measures only measure text readability.
Input from readers, parents, teachers and librarians is
necessary.
Reader & Task
Considerations
• Cognitive Capabilities
• Motivation
• Knowledge
•Experiences
Evaluating Text Complexity
Qualitative Dimensions
• Levels of Meaning/
Purpose
•Text Structure
•Language
•Knowledge Demands
Evaluating Text Complexity
QUALITATIVE DIMENSIONS of Text Complexity
1—LEVELS OF PURPOSE:
Is the purpose explicitly stated? Or is it obscure or hidden?
2—STRUCTURE:
Organization: Simple, well-marked conventions?
Or unconventional structure?
Sequence: easy to follow? Or flashbacks? Framed stories?
Graphics: Add on? Or necessary to understand the text?
3—LANGUAGE CONVENTIONALITY & CLARITY:
Language: Contemporary & literal? Or ambiguous, misleading,
archaic, unfamiliar?
4—KNOWLEDGE DEMANDS:
Does not go much beyond depth of reader’s knowledge?
OR makes assumptions that reader has a vast knowledge of
the topic?
Appendix A—pp. 5 & 6
Martin Luther King’s Letter from
Birmingham Jail
What makes this complex?
Martin Luther King’s Letter
from Birmingham Jail
From Dr. Anita Archer, Dynamic Vocabulary
Instruction
REFLECTION
More information and updates can be found for
Common Core State Standards can be found on:
MDE website: www.michigan.gov/mde
Common Core State Standards:
www.corestandards.org
Smarter Balanced Consortia:
www.k12.wa.us/smarter/
32