A Case for Complexity
Research Findings
Reading demands in college, career,
and life have generally held steady or
increased over the last fifty years
while k-12 texts have declined in
complexty across grades since 1962
Research Findings
Current standards have not done enough to
foster independent reading of complex texts—
especially informational texts. Currently, only 715% of reading in elementary and middle school
is expository even though research has
concluded such text is more difficult for most
students than narrative style.
Research Findings
High school graduates who are poor readers
tend to struggle to succeed.
AND…the problem with lack of reading is not
only getting worse but at an accelerated rate.
Research Findings
Reading occupies only
about 2% of class time in
most high schools.
Research Findings
The differentiating factor for
those students earning a 2136 ACT score was their
ability to read complex texts.
WHAT ARE COMPLEX
TEXTS?
Texts that offer new
language, new knowledge,
and new modes of thought
How is complexity measured?
Three-Part Model
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and Task
Qualitative
Three-Part Model
Those aspects only
measurable by an
informed and trained
judgment to the task.
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Qualitative
Levels of Meaning or Purpose
Single level if meaning
Complex
Explicitly stated purpose
Implicit purpose (hidden or
obscure)
.
Three-Part Model
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Qualitative
Three-Part Model
Structure
Simple structureComplex
ChronologicalFlashback
ConventionalUnconventional
Simple graphicsComplicated graphics
Supplementary graphicsEssential graphics for
understanding
Language Conventions and Clarity
LiteralFigurative
ClearMisleading or ambiguous
FamiliarArchaic
ConversationalAcademic
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Qualitative
Three-Part Model
Knowledge Demands: Life Experiences
(Literary Texts)
Simple themeComplex theme
Single themeMultiple themes
Common experiencesunfamiliar experiences
Single perspectiveMultiple perspectives
Perspectives similar to ownPerspectives in
opposition to one’s own
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Qualitative
Three-Part Model
Knowledge Demands: Cultural
and Literary Knowledge
Everyday knowledgeCultural and
literary knowledge
Few allusionsMany allusions
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Qualitative
Three-Part Model
Knowledge Demands: Content
Knowledge (Informational Texts)
Everyday knowledgeContentspecific knowledge
Few references or citations to
other textsMany references to
other texts
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Quantitative
Those aspects of text
complexity, such as word
length or frequency, sentence
length, and text cohesion
typically measured by
computer software or
readability tests such as Frye,
Raygor, Smog, Dale-Chall,
Flesch, et al
Three-Part Model
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Reader and Task
Those aspects essential
to the task or the reader.
This is determined by
teacher judgment,
experience, and
knowledge of students
and subject.
Three-Part Model
Qualitative
Quantitative
Reader and
Task
Reader and Task
Motivation (a purpose for reading, interest
in the content, self-efficacy)
Three-Part Model
Knowledge (vocabulary, topic, linguistics,
comprehension strategies)
Skill and Experience
Task related variables (reader’s purpose
which could shift, skimming, studying)
Intended outcome (increase knowledge,
solution to problem, engagement with text).
Qualitativ
e
Quantitat
ive
Reader
and Task
Reader and Task
Motivation (a purpose for reading, interest
in the content, self-efficacy)
Three-Part Model
Knowledge (vocabulary, topic, linguistics,
comprehension strategies)
Skill and Experience
Task related variables (reader’s purpose
which could shift, skimming, studying)
Intended outcome (increase knowledge,
solution to problem, engagement with text).
Qualitativ
e
Quantitat
ive
Reader
and Task
GRA
DE
Reading Standard
K
Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.
1
With prompting and support, read prose and poetry (informational texts) of appropriate complexity for grade 1.
2
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts) in the grades 2-3 text complexity band proficiency, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
3
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts) at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
4
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts) in the grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiency, with
scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
5
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts) at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band
independently and proficiently.
6
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) in the grades
6-8 text complexity band proficiency, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
7
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) in the grades
6-8 text complexity band proficiency, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
8
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) at the high
end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiency.
9-10
By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) in the grades 910 text complexity band proficiency, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) at the high
end of grades 9-10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
1112
By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) in the grades
11-CCR text complexity band proficiency, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature (informational texts, history/social studies texts, science/technical texts) at the high
end of grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Text complexity in the standards
is defined in grade bands (2-3, 45, 6-8, 9-10, and 11-CCR).
Students in the first year of a
given band are expected by the
end of the year to read and
comprehend within the band
(may include scaffolding at the
high end of the range). Students
in the last year of a band are
expected by the end of the
year to read and comprehend
independently and proficiently
within the band.
Text Exemplars
Grades K-1 from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold
Lobel (1971)
“Here are some flower seeds. Plant them in
the ground,” said Frog, “and soon you will
have a garden.”
“How soon?” asked Toad.
“Quite soon,” said Frog.
Grades 2-3
from The Raft by Jim LaMarche
(2000)
“Ahead of me, through the fog, I
saw two deer moving across the
river, a doe and a fawn. When they
reached the shore, the doe leaped
easily up the steep bank, then
turned to wait for her baby. But the
fawn was in trouble. It kept
slipping down the muddy bank.
The doe returned to the water to
help, but the more the fawn
struggled, the deeper it got stuck
in the mud.”
Grades 4-5
rom Volcanoes by Seymour Simon (2006)
“In early times, no one knew how
volcanoes formed or why they spouted
red-hot molten rock. In modern times,
scientists began to study volcanoes.
They still didn’t know all the answers, but
they know much about how a volcano
works.
Our planet is made up of many layers of
rock. The top layers of solid rock are
called the crust. Deep beneath the crust
is the mantle, where it is so hot that some
rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock is
called magma.
f
Grades 6-8
from “The Evolution of the Grocery Bag”
by Henry Petroski (2003)
“The geometry of paper bags continues to
hold a magical appeal for those of us who
are fascinated by how ordinary things are
designed and made. Originally, grocery
bags were created on demand by
storekeepers, who cut, folded, and pasted
sheets of paper, making versatile
containers into which purchases could be
loaded for carrying home. The first paper
bags manufactured commercially are said
to have been made in Bristol, England, in
the 1840’s.
Grades
9-10
from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
“It was a pleasure to see things eaten, to see
things blackened and changed. With the
brass nozzle in his fists, with this great
python spitting its venomous kerosene upon
the world, the blood pounded in his head,
and his hands were the hands of some
amazing conductor playing all the
symphonies of blazing and burning to bring
down the tatters and charcoal ruins of
history. With his symbolic helmet numbered
451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all
orange flame with thought of what came
next, he flicked the igniter and the house
jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the
evening sky red and yellow and black.
Grades
11-CCR
from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
In short, his wits being quite gone, he hit upon the strangest notion
that ever madman in this world hit upon, and that was that he
fancied it was right and requisite, as well for the support of his own
honour as for the service of his country, that he should make a
knight-errant of himself, roaming the world over in full armour and
on horseback in quest of adventures, and putting in practice
himself all that he had read of as being the usual practices of
knights-errant; righting every kind of wrong, and exposing himself
to peril and danger from which, in the issue, he was to reap eternal
renown and fame. Already the poor man saw himself crowned by
the might of his arm Emperor of Trebizond at least; and so, led
away by the intense enjoyment he found in these pleasant fancies,
he set himself forthwith to put his scheme into execution.
from Walden by Henry David Thoreau (1854)
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the
essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish
to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice
resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and
suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to
put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to
drive life into a corner…