Text Complexity
Quantitative
Qualitative
Reader and Task
ACT Report and Text Complexity
• In 2006, ACT released a report called Reading
Between the Lines.
• The report showed which skills differentiated
those students who equaled or exceeded the
benchmark score in reading from those who did
not.
• It was not the ability to make inferences,
determine main ideas, or to understand words
and phrases in context that set the benchmark
students apart from the other students .
ACT Report and Text Complexity
• The clearest differentiator was students’
ability to answer questions associated
with complex texts.
• The most important implication of this study
was that about half of our students did not
have the higher-order or critical thinking
skills needed to be successful in college or
in a career.
The idea of Text Complexity is not
new:
• Our renewed attention to text complexity is due to
the language used in the State Core Standards.
• Each time a topic is revisited, we have more research
to consider resulting in deeper knowledge.
• For about a century, we used readability formulas to
determine levels of text yet the level of text that is
appropriate for a specific grade level remained a
mystery.
Revisiting Text Complexity
• As we currently revisit this topic, we need to go
deeper and look at text complexity not only
quantitatively but also qualitatively as well as the
match between readers, texts, and tasks.
• Turn to page 5 in Appendix A of your Utah Core
Standards to look at a three-part model for
determining how easy or
difficult a particular text is to
read.
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
• Best measured by a human reader
• Text aspects to be measured qualitatively are:
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Purpose (informational text)
Levels of meaning (literary text)
Conventionality and clarity of language
Structure
Knowledge demands
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
• Turn to page 6 in Appendix A of the Utah Core
Standards
• Annotate:
▫ Important information
▫ Questions you have about any of the information
▫ Important vocabulary
Qualitative Measurement
My sketch of Qualitative Measurement.
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
• Turn to a partner and share your annotations.
• Discuss what you found to be important.
• Provide clarification for any questions your
partner has about the information.
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
• “Stand up, hand up, pair up!”
• Stay standing and explain Qualitative
Measurement using your own words.
• Throw in a surprise element that will help your
partner stay focused as you speak.
Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity
Now that we understand qualitative measures,
let’s take a look at our texts:
▫ Using the Text Complexity Rubric and page 7 in
Appendix A, qualitatively measure one of the texts
we have been using in class.
▫ Complete the Purpose and Meaning, Structure,
and Language sections of the metric.
▫ Share your thoughts.
Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity
• Best measured by computer software.
• Text aspects to be measured quantitatively are:
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Word length
Word frequency
Sentence length
Text cohesion
Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity
• Using your trump card sheet as a reminder,
complete principles 2 and 3 with quantitative
information in Appendix A, page 8.
• Locate a partner and complete principles 4-6
with the same information on page 8.
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Annotation
Sticky note sketch
Discuss and clarify
Stand and summarize with surprise
element
Quantitative Measures of Text Complexity
Now that we understand quantitative measures,
let’s take a look at our texts:
▫ Locate the Target Grade Level and Lexile Score
sections on the Text Complexity Rubric. Using
www.lexile.com/analyzer/ and the grade level
band chart on page 9 in Appendix A, fill in the
quantitative measure for one of the texts we have
been using in class.
▫ Share your thoughts.
Reader and Task Considerations
While the prior two elements of the model focus
on the inherent complexity of text, variables
specific to the reader and the particular task
must also be considered when determining
whether a text is appropriate for a given student.
Reader Considerations
Text complexity is based, in part, on the skills of
the reader. When students have the literacy
skills necessary to read a text, they are likely to
understand what they are reading. It is not hard
for students who can decode the words to
understand the following passage:
Annemarie eased the bedroom door open quietly,
only a crack, and peeked out. Behind her, Ellen
was sitting up, her eyes wide. (Lowry, 1989, p. 43)
Reader Considerations
However, when looking at the reader element,
more than an analysis of the current reading
skills should be considered. The definition of
readability should also include:
• An analysis of the style of writing because some
styles are harder to understand than others.
• Attention to audience and whether the
writing was intended for them.
Reader Considerations
Other reader variables that should be considered
are:
• Thinking Skills-attention, memory, critical analytic ability,
inferencing, visualization, relationships
• Motivation-purpose for reading, interest
• Background-vocabulary, topic, linguistic and discourse,
knowledge of how to use comprehension strategies, and prior
knowledge
• Content-maturity level, potentially concerning
elements
Reader Considerations
What aspects of this text would need to be
considered for readability in order to read and
comprehend this text?
Anyway, the fascinating thing was that I read in National
Geographic that there are more people alive now than have died in
all of human history. In other words, if everyone wanted to play
Hamlet at once, they couldn’t, because there aren’t enough skulls!
(Foer, 2005, p. 3)
Task Considerations
Task variables are:
• Purpose-Can shift during reading
• Complexity of the task assigned-skimming to get the gist,
studying with the intent of retaining the information
• Intended Outcome-an increase in knowledge, a solution to a
real-world problem
Reader and Task Considerations
• Reader and task assessments are best made by
teachers employing:
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Professional judgment
Experience
Knowledge of the students
Knowledge of the subject
Text Complexity and the Core
As teachers we know that:
• Students struggle when they are asked to read
complex texts by themselves.
• They do not succeed because they do not have
the appropriate related language, knowledge, or
skills to be able to comprehend the information.
Text Complexity and the Core
Teachers also realize that:
• When they provide the needed supports, students
have greater success reading material that could
be initially identified as frustration level.
• Text difficulty is not the real issue. Instruction is.
Scaffolding Instruction
The State Core Standards challenge teachers to
provide scaffolded instructional supports for every
learner and to do so with complex and difficult
texts.
As Tim Shanahan (2011) noted, If the teacher is
doing little to support the students’ transactions
with text then I suspect more learning will accrue
with somewhat easier texts. However, if
reasonable levels of instructional support are
available then students are likely to thrive when
working with harder texts. (para. 11)
Anchor Standard #10
Anchor standard 10 in the College and Career
Readiness Anchor Standard for Reading covers
text complexity. This standard’s wording is
deceptively simple: Read and comprehend
complex literary and informational texts
independently and proficiently (NGA & CCSSO,
2010a, p. 10).
Reader and Task Considerations
• Look at the Text Complexity Rubric, think about
the students (readers) in your class, and
consider the reason (task) for reading the book
you chose to analyze. Would this be a complex
text that you would use in your classroom?
• Share your thoughts.
Information taken from:
• Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading by
Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp.
2012 International Reading Association.
• 7 Actions that Teachers Can Take Right Now:
Text Complexity by Elfrieda H. Hiebert. 2012
TextProject & the University of California, Santa
Cruz.
• Utah Core Standards for English Language
Arts
Strong Content Knowledge
• Read “They build strong content knowledge.”
(second paragraph, page 7)
• Underline the key phrases that describe what
students will be doing. What is most important?
• Share with your neighbor
• How does this relate to our last discussion on Text
Complexity?
Integrating Art
The Elements and Principles of Art
Through Photography
• Prezi
• Finding the elements of art in primary source photographs
• Finding the elements of art in the world around us
• Connection activities