TCMS

November 12, 2012

The Complexities of Text Complexity

Adapted from Kansas State Education Department and Presentation by Monroe 2-Orleans BOCES

Deepen understanding of text complexityLearn about text dependent questionsScaffolding understanding of complex text for

students

Goals for today

Complexity of texts students are expected to read is way below what is required to achieve college and career readiness:

High school textbooks have declined in all subject areas over several decades

Average length of sentences in K-8 textbooks has declined from 20 to 14 words

Vocabulary demands have declined, e.g., 8th grade textbooks = former 5th grade texts; 12th grade anthologies = former 7th grade texts

Complexity of college and careers texts has remained steady or increased, resulting in a huge gap (350L)

The Crisis of Text Complexity

Too many students are reading at too low a level (<50% of graduates can read sufficiently complex texts)

The complexity of what students can read is greatest predictor of success in college (ACT study)

Question type (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT the chief differentiator

Question level (higher order vs. lower order; literal vs. inferential) is NOT the chief differentiator either

Should we worry about this gap?

Quantitative measures tend to measure:

Word difficulty (frequency, length)Sentence length and syntaxSome newer measures also measure text cohesion

and other features of vocabulary

Qualitative measures complement quantitative measures:

PurposeLanguage conventionality and clarityText structuresKnowledge demands

Measures of Text Complexity

Quantitative and qualitative measures are at once useful and imperfect.

Quantitative measures are less valid for certain kinds of texts (poetry, drama, K-1 texts) but for all others can place most texts in a complexity band reliably.

Qualitative measures are on a continuum (not grade/band specific) and most useful working in conjunction with quantitative measures.

Measures of Text Complexity, cont’d.

General Rule:Use any one of the quantitative analyzer tools to place

text into a complexity band level.

For decisions about whether to place a text at the upper, lower, or middle of a band, use qualitative analysis.

For drama and poetry, use qualitative measures.

Implications for Educators

Text Complexity Model for the Common Core Standards

Qual

itat

ive

2. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands often best measured by an attentive human reader.

Quan

titativ

e1. Quantitative measures –

readability and other scores of text complexity often best measured by computer software.

Reader and Task3.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.

Quantitative Measures Resources

• Grade Band Ranges Chart

• Internet database for quantitative measures (Lexile level)

Text Complexity Grade Bands

Suggested Lexile Range

Suggested ATOS Book Level Range**

K-1 190L – 530L* 1.0 – 2.5

2-3 450L – 790L 2.0 – 4.0

4-5 770L – 980L 3.0 – 5.7

6-8 955L – 1155L 4.0 – 8.0

9-10 1080L – 1305L 4.6 – 10.0

11-CCR 1215L – 1355L 4.8 – 12.0

Quantitative Measures Ranges for

Text Complexity Grade Bands

.

** Taken from Accelerated Reader and the Common Core State Standards, available at the following URL: http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004572117GKC46B.pdf

Quantitative Measures Resources

Lexile Analyzer:www.lexile.com/findabook/

Qualitative Measures Resources

• Rubric for Literary Text• Rubric for Informational

Text

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.

Qualitative Measures Resources

Reader and Task Considerations Resources

• Questions for Professional Reflection

Questions for Professional Reflection

on Reader and Task Considerations:

The questions provided in this resource are meant to spur teacher thought and reflection upon the text, students, and any tasks associated with the text.

Reader and Task Considerations Resources

Determining Text Complexity:The Model in Action

For illustrative purposes, let’s choose Harper Lee’s 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

A Four-step Process:

Determining Text Complexity

Quan

titativ

e

Qual

itat

ive

Reader and Task

4. Recommend placement in the appropriate text complexity band.

3. Reflect upon the reader and task considerations.

2. Analyze the qualitative measures of the text.

1. Determine the quantitative measures of the text.

Step 1: Quantitative Measures

Lexile Text Measure:

ATOS Book Level:

870L

5.6

Text Complexity Grade Bands

Suggested Lexile Range

Suggested ATOS Book Level Range**

K-1 190L – 530L* 1.0 – 2.5

2-3 450L – 790L 2.0 – 4.0

4-5 770L – 980L 3.0 – 5.7

6-8 955L – 1155L 4.0 – 8.0

9-10 1080L – 1305L 4.6 – 10.0

11-CCR 1215L – 1355L 4.8 – 12.0

Quantitative Measures Ranges for Text Complexity Grade Bands

.

** Taken from Accelerated Reader and the Common Core State Standards, available at the following URL: http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004572117GKC46B.pdf

20

Step 2: Qualitative Measures

Step 2: Qualitative Measures

After reflecting upon the qualitative measures:

Step 3: Reader and Task Considerations

Based upon all the information—all three legs of the model—the final recommendation for To Kill a Mockingbird is….

Step 4: Recommended Placement

What are Text-Dependent Questions?

Cause the reader to pay careful attention to the text in order to draw evidence from the text

Can only be answered by close reading

Should be worth asking or exploring

Paraphrase

How do I write questions that are text-dependent?You have to first read the text closely yourself

Then think about what it is you want your students to gain from that text, keeping a particular standard in mind. (See handout for some ideas for each standard)

Don’t wait!!!!!

“Don’t wait”: Ask questions frequently, and throughout the selection rather than waiting until the end of a selection. Don’t Wait questions are quick to maximize time actually spent reading.

(Uncommon Schools, 2011)

Some hints…

Lower the Level of Questions

Lower the Level: Ask questions about a text at all four levels of meaning (word/phrase level, sentence level, passage level, text level) but pay particular attention to word, phrase and sentence level. These are often the root of larger misunderstandings and are asked too infrequently by many teachers.(Uncommon Schools, 2011)

Some hints…

Require students to cite all (or most) of the evidence presented in a particular segment of text.

Ask students to paraphrase a particularly dense chunk of text.

Focus on chunks of a text that are short, dense, and critical to the story.

Look at clusters of chunks that build upon one another and reveal why a text was written.

Re-read the text, line-by-line, multiple times.

And a few more…

Probably not…entirelyStudents may need (lots of) modeling

So is the key to reading complex text in developing and asking text dependent questions?

Some Options for Accessing Complex Text

Gradual Release of Responsibility ModelRead aloud complex text Re-read aloud portions of complex textRead aloud complex text, and have students re-

read small portion of complex text independently

Read aloud complex text, and have students continue to read complex text independently

Students read complex text independently, and teacher reads aloud portion of text for instruction

Now that they can access the text…Students may need strategies for

deepening their thinking about text (in order to answer those text dependent questions!)

Focus standard Text dependent question

What strategy is needed?

A way to plan…

Let’s try it!