The Common Core State Standards

Secondary Protocol 2b:

Text Complexity

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College and Career Readiness: Tools for Schools

Secondary Sequence

Protocol 1: What Works: Research based Effective

Practices

ELA Protocol 2a: Structure of ELA

CCSS

ELA Protocol 2b: Text Complexity

ELA Protocol 2c: Written Argument I

ELA Protocol 2d: Written Argument II

Protocol 3a: Structure of

Literacy in Content Areas CCSS

Protocol 3b: Text Complexity across the Content Areas

Protocol 3c:

Written Argument I in the Content

Areas

Protocol 3d: Written Argument II

in the Content Areas

Math Protocol 4a: Structure of Math

CCSS

Math Protocol 4b: Mathematical

Practices

Math Protocol 4c: Modeling in Mathematics

Math Protocol 4d: Mathematical Progressions

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Desired Outcomes

• General understanding of the three measures

of text complexity: quantitative, qualitative and

reader and task consideration

• General understanding of what a text-

dependent question is and why it is an

important tool to help students become

college and career ready

• Implications to consider for instruction

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• The Common Core State Standards articulate rigorous

expectations to prepare ALL students to be college and

career ready, including English language learners and

Special Education Students.

• These students likely will require additional instructional

support.

• English Language Proficiency Standards (ELP) for ELL

students are aligned to the CCSS.

All Means All

1. Read Text of Sufficient Complexity and Range 2. Read Closely to Analyze, Infer and Give Evidence 3. Write to Sources 4. Short, Focused Research 5. Written and Spoken Argument 6. Academic Vocabulary 7. Shared Responsibility for Literacy Development

Among All Teachers

Key Shifts in the CCSS

5

Why is Text Complexity Important?

Complexity of K-12 texts have

eroded:

• High school textbooks have

declined in all subject areas

over several decades

• Average length of sentences in

K-8 textbooks have declined

from 20 to 14 words

• Vocabulary demands have

declined, e.g., 8th grade

textbooks equivalent to former

5th grade texts; 12th grade

anthologies equal to former 7th

grade

Complexity of college and career

texts have remained steady or

increased:

• Lexile scores of college

textbooks have not decreased

in any block of time since 1962

and in fact have increased

• Vocabulary difficulty of

newspapers has remained

stable

• Word difficulty of scientific

journals and magazines 1930–

1990 has increased since 1930

- Adapted from Susan Pimentel

Research: ACT Study

For college readiness:

“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”(ACT, 2006a).

For career readiness:

“According to an ACT (2006b) study of skills needed for

occupations that do not require a college degree but that

provide a living wage, the reading and mathematics skills

needed to obtain and hold these jobs are similar to those

needed to succeed in college” (Fisher, Frey, & Lapp, 2012).

What’s Wrong with the Simplified Text

Approach?

• Simplified texts are often synonymous with restricted,

limited, and thin in meaning

• Academic vocabulary can only be learned from complex

texts

• Mature language skills needed for success in school and

life can only be gained by working with demanding

materials

• No evidence that struggling readers catch up by

gradually increasing the complexity of simpler texts. . .

- Adapted from Susan Pimentel

Complex Texts for ALL Students

Lily Wong Fillmore (ELL scholar and researcher):

• Worried about the “gradual erosion of the complexity of texts”

offered to students, Fillmore suggested that when teachers offer

only simplified materials for students beyond the first year or two of

their learning English, it is “niceness run amok”.

• For the first year or two English learners need altered or alternative

texts, but asserted that “all students deserve the challenge of

complex texts”.

from - “With Rigor for All”, Carol Jago, 2011, p. 30

Lexile®

levels today and with Common Core –

Rigor Increased 2-3 Grade Levels (commoncoreinstitute.org)

Current Typical text measures

(by grade)

Common Core Text complexity grade bands

and associated Lexile ranges

Range of Reading and Level of Text

Complexity

Reading Anchor Standard #10

Read and comprehend complex literary

and informational texts independently

and proficiently.

How to Determine Text Complexity

“The Text Complexity Model”

Text complexity is defined by:

2. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning,

structure, language conventionality and

clarity, and knowledge demands often best

measured by an attentive human reader.

1. Quantitative measures – readability and

other scores of text complexity often best

measured by computer software.

Reader and Task

3. 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.

Text Complexity Video

Microsoft Word

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

•Open text in Microsoft Word

•Turn on option to show readability statistics

•For PC Word 2007, click on:

•Office button

•Word options

•Proofing

•Show readability statistics

•Run Spelling & Grammar check

14

Quantitative Measures

Resources

Lexile Analyzer:

www.lexile.com/findabook/

AR BookFinder:

www.arbookfind.com

Common Scale

Common Scale for Band Level Text Difficulty Ranges

ATOS DRP FK Lexile SR RM

2nd-3rd 2.75-5.14 42-54 1.98-5.34 420-820 0.05 – 2.48 3.53 - 6.13

4th-5th 4.97-7.03 52-60 4.51-7.73 740-1010 0.84 – 5.75 5.42 - 7.92

6th-8th 7.00-9.98 57-67 6.51-10.34 925-1185 4.11 – 10.66 7.04 - 9.57

9th-10th 9.67-12.01 62-72 8.32-12.12 1050-1335 9.02 – 13.93 8.41 - 10.81

11th-CCR 11.20-14.10 67-74 10.34-14.2 1185-1385 12.30 – 14.50 9.57 - 12

Common

Core Bands:

Text Analyzer Tools

Qualitative Measures Resources

• Rubric for Literary Text

• Rubric for Informational Text

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19

Text Complexity: Qualitative Measures Rubric for Informational Text

Questions for Professional

Reflection on Reader & Task

Considerations:

These questions are meant to

spur teacher thought and

reflection upon the text, students,

and any tasks associated with the

text.

Reader and Task Considerations-

Resources

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A Four-step Process:

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 using the rubric. *Use this to place the text at the top,

middle or bottom of the band.

1. Determine the quantitative measures

of the text. *Use this to place a text within a band.

Common Scale for Band Level Text Difficulty Ranges

ATOS DRP FK Lexile SR RM

2nd-3rd 2.75-5.14 42-54 1.98-5.34 420-820 0.05 – 2.48 3.53 - 6.13

4th-5th 4.97-7.03 52-60 4.51-7.73 740-1010 0.84 – 5.75 5.42 - 7.92

6th-8th 7.00-9.98 57-67 6.51-10.34 925-1185 4.11 – 10.66 7.04 - 9.57

9th-10th 9.67-12.01 62-72 8.32-12.12 1050-1335 9.02 – 13.93 8.41 - 10.81

11th-CCR 11.20-14.10 67-74 10.34-14.2 1185-1385 12.30 – 14.50 9.57 - 12

Common

Core Bands:

Text Analyzer Tools

Determining Text Complexity

Template for Text Complexity

Analysis and Recommended

Placement Form:

The one-page template provides an

opportunity to record the thinking

involved in recommending the placement

of a specific text into a text complexity

band.

Keeping a record of such analysis and

thinking might be useful documentation

in the case that any questions arise in

the future.

Recommended Placement Form

Text%Complexity%Analysis%of!___%By%________________%

Text%Type:%_______________________%!

!

!

!

!

!

! !

%

Text%Description%

Text%Structure:%!%%%%

Language%Features:%!%%%!Meaning/Purpose:%!

%%%!Knowledge%Demands:%%!

!

Qualitative%Measures%

!

Recommended%Complexity%Band%Level%

Quantitative%Measure%of%the%Text:%!

Range:%!

Associated%Band%Level:!%

Quantitative%Measure%

Text%Complexity%Analysis%of!___%By%________________%

Text%Type:%_______________________%!

!

!

!

Possible%Major%Instructional%Areas%of%Focus%(include%3L4%CCS%Standards)%for%this%Text:%!!

Considerations%for%Reader%and%Task%

Created!by!!! ! ! Reviewed!by!_______________________(name,!state,!e4mail,!date)!

Below!are!factors!to!consider!with!respect!to!the!reader!and!task:!!Potential%Challenges%this%Text%Poses:%%%%!

!!!!%Differentiation/Supports%for%Students:%

!!

The Importance of the Placemats

The placemats are useful to:

• Help record the text complexity grade band

recommendation for a selected text

• Help identify what makes the text complex

• Help to inform what kinds of support will be needed for

all students to access and understand the text

Text Complexity, Close Reading, and

Text-Dependent Questions

• Research links the close reading of complex text – whether the

student is a struggling reader or advance – to significant gains in

reading proficiency and finds close reading to be a key component

of college and career readiness (Ericcson & Kintsch, 1993).

• Close reading is the methodical investigation of a complex text

through answering text-dependent questions geared to demystify

its meaning.

• Close reading forces students to extract evidence from the text as

well as draw inferences that logically follow from what they have

read.

What is a “Text-Dependent”

Question?

• It is a question that can only be answered by

referring explicitly back to the text being read

• It embraces the role of providing evidence from

the text and drawing inferences based on

consulting the text for answers

Importance of Text-Dependent

Questions

• Do not require information or evidence from outside the text

• Good questions linger over specific phrases and sentences

• Effective sequences of questions build on each other so students

stay focused on the text and learn fully from it

• 80-90% of reading standards require text-dependent analysis

• Yet, between 30 to 50% of Q’s in major textbooks are not text-

dependent

Let’s Look At Some Samples Together…

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Which are Text-Dependent?

Which are NOT Text-Dependent?

• What are the people who are assembled at Gettysburg there to do?

• Have you ever been to a funeral?

• What is the unfinished work that Lincoln asks those listening to

commit themselves to at the end of the speech?

• Lincoln says that the nation is dedicated to the proposition that “all

men are created equal.” Why is equality an important value to

promote?

• Did Lincoln think that the north was going to “pass the test” that the

civil war posed?

• Why did Lincoln give this speech?

• Explain the logical progression of Lincoln’s argument.

Which are Text-Dependent?

Which are NOT Text-Dependent?

1. What are the people who are assembled at Gettysburg there to

do?

2. Have you ever been to a funeral?

3. What is the unfinished work that Lincoln asks those listening to

commit themselves to at the end of the speech?

4. Lincoln says that the nation is dedicated to the proposition that “all

men are created equal.” Why is equality an important value to

promote?

5. Did Lincoln think that the north was going to “pass the test” that

the civil war posed?

6. Why did Lincoln give this speech?

7. Explain the logical progression of Lincoln’s argument.

Text-dependent

Text-dependent

Text-dependent

Not text-dependent

Not text-dependent

Not text-dependent

Text-dependent

Questions are

purposefully

planned &

direct

students to

closely

examine the

text.

Text-based answers

Students must cite text to

support answers

Questions tied directly to the

text, but extend beyond

the literal

Personal opinions,

experiences, and

connections to the text are

minimized in favor of what

the text actually says

or doesn’t say

Tips: Helping Students Understand

Complex Texts

Teachers …

• Expose students to complex, grade-level text even if they are not

reading at grade-level

• Offer sequences of engaging text-dependent questions

• Offer extra supports to students who need it

• Place a premium on stamina and persistence

Students…

• Practice with lots of short, quality texts

• Slow down, read and re-read

• Take notes/annotate as you read

• Notice confusing parts

• Discuss the text

31

Fisher, Frey, & Lapp (2012). Text Complexity- Raising Rigor in Reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. p.

107.

Pimentel (2012). The Common Core State Standards: Priorities for Action [PowerPoint slides].

Reflections

• How might your understanding of text complexity

and text-dependent questions affect your

approach to curriculum, instruction and

assessment?

Commitment to Action

• As a department team, select common texts and use the

four-step process to determine the text complexity level

of each common text.

Possible Artifact: Completed Text Complexity Placemats (see

resources)

• As a department team, review the questions provided

with ELA common texts to determine if they are text-

dependent questions. Revise questions as needed. (*Be sure to first determine that the texts used are at the appropriate level of text

complexity.)

Possible Artifact: A copy of revised/reviewed questions from

the selected ELA common text

Next Step:

Continue the Process

Read the handout “Guide for Creating Questions

for Close Analytic Reading” (see resources) to

understand the process of writing text-dependent

questions.

• Possible Artifact: A series of engaging text-

dependent questions to support student’s reading of

the selected text

Additional Resources

• standardstoolkit.k12.hi.us

• Rubrics for Text Complexity

• Text Complexity Analysis Placemats

• Common Core Appendix B

• www.achievethecore.org

• “Guide for Creating Questions for Close Analytic Reading” Handout

• The Hunt Institute and CCSSO Common Core Implementation

Video Series

• “Text Complexity- Raising Rigor in Reading” (2012) by Douglas

Fisher, Nancy Frey, & Diane Lapp

• Video on text-complexity (15 min) http://vimeo.com/42791797

• http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-

assessments/#item

PDE3 Survey Reminder:

https://pde3.k12.hi.us