Fostering Literate Thinking:

Demystifying Text Complexity

Leadership in Reading Network

February 19, 2015

Cory Stai, MN Dept. of Education

Guiding Questions

• Why is text complexity important?

• What makes a text complex?

• How do we access complex texts?

• What develops literacy independence?

2

Text Complexity:

An Introduction

Why is text complexity important?

Prepared by the

Minnesota Department of Education

Seriously? The standards expect me to

Teach using texts kids can’t read.

Make kids read hard texts independently.

Use texts that are all more complex than they used to be.

Force kids to read frustrating texts that will kill their will to read.

4

In fact…

The new Common Core standards in ELA demand

that teachers:

Teach kids to struggle successfully with difficult

text.

Use a balanced diet of texts across the range of

complexity.

Increase the trajectory across grades 2-12 to

ensure career- and college-readiness.

Provide kids opportunities to explore complex

texts with support and collaboration.

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Why Text Complexity?

6

What separates college-ready readers

from the rest?

7

Text

Co

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lexit

y:

Old

vs. N

ew

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The Impact on Readiness

Uncomplicated More challenging Complex

------------------------------- + 3 pts.

------------------------------- + 6-7 pts.

------------------------------------ ------------------------------- + 9-10 pts.

• The College Reading Readiness Benchmark:

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• Students who reach this ACT benchmark

score have a 50% likelihood of earning a B or

better and a 75% likelihood of earning a C or

better in typical first year courses (e.g., U.S.

History, College Algebra, Biology).

9

Yeah, but…what about students who are not

bound for college?

Student Readiness for Postsecondary Endeavors,

Williamson, 2006.

University - freshman/sophomore text

Workplace - wide variety of career paths

Citizenship - papers, documents, quantitative info.

Military - Army website docs, manuals

High school – Textbook analysis

10

Yeah, but…what about students who are not

bound for college?

Student Readiness for Postsecondary Endeavors,

Williamson, 2006.

University 1355 These numbers

Workplace 1260 represent the

Citizenship 1230 average complexity

Military 1180 of texts in each group.

High school 1130

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So…

• Tackling complex text is a significant skill set

that bends the curve of college and career

readiness across readers.

• K-12 systems have not been preparing students

to access the texts they will encounter after

school, whether citizenship texts, or college and

career texts.

• Therefore, we must prepare students differently

for the adult lives they will lead.

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Text

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lexit

y:

Old

vs. N

ew

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This discussion is a good thing.

The goal of the shifts in

the new ELA standards is

to ensure that all students

leave school career and

college ready.

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Yeah, but…that’s just a number.

• Text complexity is more than just a number.

• There’s a new way of looking it.

15

Stop and Reflect: Quick Write

• How does text complexity in your classroom

affect your students’ futures?

• What does it mean for your school?

• What does it mean for your teaching?

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Part 1 Bibliography/Links

ACT, Inc. (2006). Reading between the lines: What

the ACT reveals about college readiness in

reading. Retrieved from

http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/readi

ng_report.pdf

Williamson, G.L. (2006, April). Student Readiness

for Postsecondary Endeavors. Paper presented at

the meeting of the American Educational Research

Association (AERA). Retrieved from

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED491516.pdf

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Simplifying Text Complexity:

A New Vision

What makes a text complex?

Prepared by the

Minnesota Department of Education

A new vision of Text Complexity

What establishes text

complexity?

To effectively establish

complexity of a text,

these three dimensions

must be used together:

– Quantitative measures

– Qualitative measures

– Reader and Task

measures

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A New Vision:

Reader and Task Features

• Motivation

• Knowledge

• Prior Experiences

• Purpose of task

• Complexity of task

Typically measured

by the classroom

teacher.

20

A New Vision: Quantitative Features

• Word length or

frequency

• Sentence length

• Text cohesion

Must be measured

by a computer.

21

A New Vision: Qualitative Features

• levels of meaning

or purpose

• Structure

• language

conventionality

and clarity

• knowledge

demands

Must be measured

by a trained person.

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A New Vision: Putting It Together

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What does this mean for instruction?

Text Complexity Reader Ability

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What does this mean for instruction?

Text Complexity Reader Ability

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Let’s Talk Babies and Bath Water:

Before we talk Quality, Readers, Tasks

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• Numbers are Representations.

• What do quantitative numbers

represent?

–Word length or frequency

–Sentence length

–Sometimes text cohesion

C’mon, It’s Just a Number!

27

What separates college-ready readers

from the rest?

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Text

Co

mp

lexit

y:

Old

vs. N

ew

29

CA State University System

(Admits from the top third of HS students)

Dropouts?

50%

Dropped Out in 1st Year?

90% 30

Let’s explore a college-bound curriculum

12th grade (English 1001)

• The Awakening by Chopin

• Heart of Darkness by Conrad

• The Dubliners by Joyce

• Their Eyes were Watching

God by Hurston

• Going After Cacciato by

O’Brien

• Sula or Song of Solomon by

Morrison

11-CCR: 1185 – 1385L

• As I Lay Dying

• Green Grass, Running Water

by King

• Memoires of a Woman

Warrior

• Dreaming In Cuban

• Servants of the Map by

Barrett

• God of Small Things by Roy

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Numbers are representations.

12th grade (English 1001)

• The Awakening by Chopin

(960L)

• Heart of Darkness by Conrad

(1050L)

• The Dubliners by Joyce

(900L)

• Their Eyes were Watching

God by Hurston (1080L)

• Going After Cacciato by

O’Brien (620L)

11-CCR: 1185 – 1385L

• Sula (1050L) or Song of

Solomon by Morrison (870L)

• As I Lay Dying (870L)

• Green Grass, Running Water

by King

• Memoires of a Woman

Warrior (880L)

• Dreaming In Cuban (940L)

• Servants of the Map by

Barrett

• God of Small Things (840L)

32

A large district’s 6-12 collection

Lexile Bands:

Grades 6-8:

• 925 – 1185

Grades 9-10:

• 1050 – 1335

Grade 11 – CRR:

• 1185 - 1385

Number of Books in the

Grade Band Ranges:

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The Literature / Informational Text Divide

Reading the Text

• Catcher in the Rye

(790L)

• Lord of the Flies (770L)

• The Dubliners (900L)

Reading ABOUT the Text

• Understanding… (1340)

• Interpreting… (1330L)

• Understanding… (1280L)

• Critical Essays… (1350L)

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•It’s a number we

need to pay

attention to.

Is It Just a Number?

35

• The MCAs are designed to assess the MN

ELA Standards in Reading.

• The test specifications use the Lexile bands

in the standards.

• If you want to “bend the curve” on student

scores, build their ability to apply their

reading knowledge to more complex texts.

• It’s time to start marching up the staircase!

A Quick Word About Assessment

36

• It’s the COWs.

How did we get here?

37

C an’t

O r

W on’t

“Covering Content” by

Teaching Around the Text

38

Increasing Access to Texts

Eliminating Won’t: • Mindset (Diagnosis and Changing)

• Reversing Learned Helplessness

• Motivation and Engagement

• Cultural Relevance /

Responsiveness

Increasing Access

Eliminating Can’t: • Gradual Release of

Responsibility

• Frontload your teaching (Before-reading activities)

• Teach vocabulary expansion skills – Context Clues

– Word Parts

– Dictionary Skills

• Teach academic vocabulary

• Teach content vocabulary

• Teach comp. skills

– Teach text features

– Teach text structures

• Teach comp. strategies

• Read text to students or play an audio recording

• Summarize the information the following day

• Create study guides which pull out all of the

relevant text (main ideas, concepts to know)

• Show a video, simulation, dramatization

• Have volunteers share out the most important

information either in groups or a large group Q

and A?

How can you teach “around” the text?

41

Scaffolds Shouldn’t Be Permanent

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Qualitative Measurements:

Continuums of Measurement

Qualitative measures require a trained eye.

Easy Difficult

The Power of Rubrics

• Establishes values

• Common criteria

• Inter-rater reliability

• Becomes the source for

instructional decisions and

planning around the text

Literary Text Qualitative Measures

• Meaning

– Density & complexity

– Figurative language

– Purpose

• Text Structure

– Genre

– Narration

– Order of events/Org.

– Use of graphics / text

features

• Language Features

– Conventionality

– Vocabulary

– Sentence structure

– Register

• Knowledge Demands

– Life experiences

– Intertextuality and

cultural knowledge

– Subject matter

knowledge

Informational Text Qualitative Measures

• Purpose

• Text Structure – Organization of ideas

– Text features

– Use of graphics

• Language Features – Conventionality

– Vocabulary

– Sentence structure

• Knowledge Demands – Subject matter

knowledge

– Intertextuality and cultural knowledge

Civil War Article

47

• Cognitive Capabilities

• Reading Skills

• Motivation and Engagement

– Task

– Text

• Prior Knowledge and Experience

• Content or Theme Concerns

• Complexity of Associated Tasks

Reader and Task Considerations

48

Reader and Task: Engagement

Questions to ask…

• Is the information / story relevant to the student?

• Is this new knowledge or related to previous

learning?

• Does it stimulate curiosity and motivation around the

topic?

• Does it involve the appropriate level of cognitive

engagement?

• Is the reader cognitively engaged at an appropriate

level?

• Will they be asked to use or apply the new skill or

knowledge?

• Is it personally meaningful?

How do we access complex texts?

50

Gradual Release – Fisher & Frey

• Use a short text

• Re-reading

• Annotating

• Text-dependent questions

• Productive Struggle

Close Reading: Critical Features

52

A Three-Phase Model of Close Reading

Fisher and Frey

Opinions, Arguments,

Intertextual Connections

Inferences

Author’s Purpose

Vocab & Text Structure

Key Details

General Understandings

Phase 3:

What does the

text mean?

Phase 2:

How does the

text work?

Phase 1:

What does the

text say?

53

Progression of

Text-dependent Questions

Opinions, Arguments,

Intertextual Connections

Inferences

Author’s Purpose

Vocab & Text Structure

Key Details

General Understandings

8 & 9

3 & 7

6

4 & 5

2

1

Standards

54

Another Word about Assessment

• I’m always asked the wrong

question about the MCAs:

“What is on the test?” • The correct is question is:

“How is in the test?”

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• “Right There” Questions

• Text Structure Questions

• Sequence Questions

• Clarification Questions

• Paraphrasing Questions

• Inferential Questions

• Organizing Questions

• Academic Vocabulary/Key Phrases Questions

• Purpose Questions

Text Dependent Question Types

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