1. Text Complexity
&
The KY Core Academic Standards for ELA and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science & Technical Subjects
The Common Core State Standards adopted by KY as the KY Core Academic Standards place a great emphasis on text complexity in ELA as well as the literacy standards for History/SS, Science and Technical subjects. This webinar is intended to provide guidance to educators in how to use the 3 considerations (qualitative, quantitative and reader & task) to make decisions about appropriate texts to use for instruction and independent reading.

2. Who is participating today?
A. Elementary teacher B. Middle grades teacher C. High school teacher D. Library/Media Specialist E. Administrator/other
Ask participants to use their poll buttons to indicate their role. We can respond to their feedback.

3. Advantages to Common Core Standards
A focus on college and career readiness
Inclusion of the four strands of English Language Arts:
Reading
Writing
Listening and speaking
Language
The benefits of an integrated literacy approach – all KY educators have a shared responsibility for literacy instruction, regardless of discipline or content area.
A focus on results rather than means – (“the Standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers, and states to determine how those goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed” (p. 4).)
Efficiencies of scale – common standards allow for greater collaboration among states in the areas of
Professional development
Resource development
Teaching tools
Focus on Four Strands (reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language)
The benefits of an integrated literacy approach (both in terms of reaching out to content areas beyond ELA and also in terms of research and media skills being integrated into the four strands)
A focus on results rather than means (“the Standards leave room for teachers, curriculum developers, and states to determine how those goals should be reached and what additional topics should be addressed” (p. 4).)
Sharing of information and resources among educators across the country to assist with implementation
Address poll feedback

4. How familiar are you with text complexity in Common Core Standards for ELA & Literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects?
A. Not very familiar; I’ve not read the appendices section on text complexity B. Somewhat Familiar; I’ve read the appendices section on text complexity C. Familiar; I’ve read and discussed text complexity with others D. Very familiar; I could be conducting this webinar on text complexity in the Common Core Standards.
Use polling. Provide feedback.

5. What are the big “take-aways” from the Standards and Exemplar Texts?
More emphasis on informational texts in the curriculum
More grade-level challenging texts (“stretch texts”)
Appropriate scaffolding for students to access and understand more challenging texts
An analysis of the standards and appendices reveal that, in comparison to previous standards, the CCSS (or KCAS),
Read slide

6. Text Complexity
Included within the Standards is an enhanced focus on text complexity. Specifically, within reading standard #10: Anchor Standard: R.CCR.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. Example Grade-level Standard (6th grade): RI.6.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Read slide—In the grade 6 example, note the underlined and highlighted phrasing.
As stated in the Standards:
Note on range and content of student reading
To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity with various text structures and elements. By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, students build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. Students also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success.
p.5 of the intro to the standards document recommends that at
Gr 4 50% of Reading is Informational
Gr 8 55%
Gr %
This doesn’t mean that ELA teachers are solely responsible for teaching all text types, but that the responsibility is shared across the curriculum to reach these overall percentages.

7. WHY: Rationale for Text Complexity
The complexity of K-12 texts decreased
The complexity of reading demands in college/career increased
Over the last 50 years the complexity of K-12 texts decreased (Chall, Conrad & Harris, 1977; Hayes, Wolfer, 1996; Williamson, 2008), while the Difficulty of college/career texts increased:
College professors assign more periodical reading than high school teachers (Milewski, Johnson, Glazer, & Kubota, 2005). Difficulty of scientific journals and magazines increased from 1930 to 1990 (Hayes & Ward, 1992).
The complexity of reading demands in college, career and citizenship have held steady or increased (Hayes, Wolfer and Wolfe, 1996).
Metametrics increased their Lexile ranges to reflect the increased text demands needed by high school graduation. App. A (p. 8) has a chart that illustrates these new Lexile ranges. We will be using that chart in this webinar.

8. Guiding Questions
So…
What do the KY Core Academic Standards mean by text complexity?
What is a text complexity band?
and
How do we ensure the texts our students are reading are in the appropriate text complexity band?
This presentation seeks to answer these questions.

9. Overview Text complexity is defined by of Text Complexity
Qualitative
1. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands often best measured by an attentive human reader.
Quantitative
2. 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.
The 3 sides of the text complexity triangle illustrate the 3 considerations, all of which must be considered, to determine the complexity of a given text.
Read definitions of the 3 sides.

10. How do we determine the grade-level complexity of a text?
Quantitative
Readability measures--Lexile,
Frye, etc.
Qualitative
Levels of Meaning
Language Conventionality & Clarity
Structure
Knowledge Demands
Reader &Task
Teacher judgment based on knowledge of students
Quantitative refers to measures of complexity using instruments such as Lexile, Frye scales or other means.
Qualitative has 4 areas for consideration: levels of meaning, language conventionality and clarity, structure and knowledge demands.
Reader & Task considerations rely on teacher judgment based on knowledge of students.

11. Quantitative Measures Ranges for Text Complexity Grade Bands
The first leg of the triangle—Quantitative Measures—is to consider readability measures. This chart from Appendix A of the CCSS shows the new Lexile “stretch measures” designed to scaffold students to be able to handle the complexity of texts they will encounter once they exit high school. They are presented in grade bands, and as the standards state, the goal is to have students reading texts at that level by the end of that grade band. The middle column reveals the “old” Lexile scale developed prior to the CCSS. The third column is the “new” scale, which was revised to meet the increased rigor of the standards as well as the increased text demands required post high school graduation.

12. Where do we find texts in the appropriate text complexity band?
We could….
Choose an excerpt of text from Appendix B
Use available resources to determine the text complexity of other materials on our own
or…
As educators consider where to find appropriate texts for use in the classroom, there are several places to begin. You could start with the resources in Appendix B, but this is still only a starting point because you will need to consider the other two legs of the triangle qualitative and reader and task considerations.
We will be looking at resources during this presentation to assist with these other considerations.

13. Determining Text Complexity
A Four-step Process:
Determine the quantitative measures of the text.
Qualitative
Quantitative
Analyze the qualitative measures of the text.
Reflect upon the reader and task considerations.
Reader and Task
Overview of the protocol
Recommend placement in the appropriate text complexity band.

14. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
Measures such as:
Word length
Word frequency
Word difficulty
Sentence length
Text length
Text cohesion
The first step—quantitative measures—include looking at measures such as (read slide list). App A of the standards contains information on this.

15. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
The Quantitative Measures Ranges for Text Complexity:
This document outlines the suggested ranges for each of the text complexity bands using:
Lexile Text Measures
---or---
Sources of quantitative measures—Lexile, Frye or other scales, Accelerated Reader…
Other readability measures (e.g., Frye, Accelerated Reader)

16. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
Let’s imagine we want to see where a text falls on the quantitative measures “leg” of the text complexity triangle, using either the Lexile text measures or other measures.
For illustrative purposes, let’s choose Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
Let’s take an example text to use throughout this process, To Kill a Mockingbird. Where does it fall in each leg of the measures?
PREDICT: Where do you think To Kill a Mockingbird will fall on the quantitative leg of text complexity? Type your response in the chat box

17. Find a Book KY
To find a quantitative measure—Lexile, for example—you could go to Find a Book KY from the KDE literacy page, shown here, or go to Lexile’s website. Enter any of the search criteria—title, author, etc.

18. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
For texts not in the Lexile database, consider using the Lexile Analyzer:
Registration is required (free)
Allows user to receive an “estimated” Lexile score
Accommodates texts up to 1000 words in length
Texts of any length can be evaluated using the Professional Lexile Analyzer—educators can upgrade to this tool for free by requesting access
If you have a text that isn’t in the Lexile database, you can still determine a Lexile measure by using the Lexile Analyzer; it just requires a free registration. You enter the text (up to 1000 words) and it will analyze the text and give you a Lexile measure. This tool is also useful for adapting short texts to use with students to differentiate according to their reading level.

19. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
Additional Resources for Lexile Measures:
Overview video
“What Does the Lexile Measure Mean?”
“Lexile Measures and the Common Core State Standards”
KDE Lexile Resource Page
KY Lexile Map
Other resources for Lexile Measures

20. Additional resources, such as the KY Lexile Map, can be found on KDE’s website on Lexile for Reading page.

21. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
The search return reveals that To Kill a Mockingbird is at a 870 Lexile measure.

22. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
870L
Lexile Text Measure:
8.1
Scholastic Grade Level Equivalent:
In which of the text complexity bands would this novel fall?
So, the Lexile level is Using the Scholastic Teacher Book Wizard, we get another measure, Where does To Kill a Mockingbird fall on the text complexity band chart?

23. Quantitative Measures Ranges for Text Complexity Grade Bands
KY Core Academic Standards
Quantitative Measures Ranges for
Text Complexity Grade Bands
870 places it at the mid range of the 4th-5th grade band.

24. Step 1: Quantitative Measures
Remember, however, that the quantitative measures is only the first of three “legs” of the text complexity triangle.
Our final recommendation may be validated, influenced, or even over-ruled by our examination of qualitative measures and the reader and task considerations.
Remember, this is only the 1st leg of the text complexity triangle, though. We still need to consider qualitative and reader & task measures.

25. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Measures such as:
Levels of meaning
Levels of purpose
Structure
Organization
Language conventionality
Language clarity
Prior knowledge demands
Qualitative measures are those discernable by humans not computers. These measures include a continuum
Levels of meaning and purpose—single or multiple levels of meaning? Explicitly stated purpose or hidden?
Structure & organization—simple or complex? Conventional or unconventional? Chronological order or flashbacks?
Language conventions and clarity—literal and figurative? Clear? Ambiguous? Contemporary and familiar or archaic?
And finally
Prior knowledge demands—life experiences, cultural and literacy knowledge/content & discipline knowledge

26. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
The Qualitative Measures Rubrics
for Literary and Informational Text:
Kansas has developed a rubric for literary text and a rubric for informational text that allows educators to evaluate the important elements of text that are often missed by computer software that tends to focus on more easily measured factors.
Using the qualitative measures, Kansas developed two rubrics that allow humans to discern the important elements of text that are missed by computers. One of the rubrics is for literary texts and the other for informational texts.
PREDICT: Where would you rate this novel on leg 2 of the text complexity chart? Type your response in the chat box

27. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Because the factors for literary texts are different from information texts, these two rubrics contain different content. However, the formatting of each document is exactly the same.
And because these factors represent continua rather than discrete stages or levels, numeric values are not associated with these rubric. Instead, four points along each continuum is identified: high, middle high, middle low, and low.
Read information on slide
This is a continua—not discrete stages so numeric values are not associated
Factors for literary texts are different from information texts

28. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
So…
How is the rubric used?
And how would To Kill a Mockingbird fare when analyzed through the lens of the Literary Text Rubric?
Let’s talk about how the rubric is used with a novel most of us have likely read at some point in our lives
To Kill a Mockingbird is a favorite classic
POLL: Thumbs up if you have read To Kill a Mockingbird
Thumbs down if you have not read To Kill a Mockingbird

29. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Users read across the four columns for each row of checkboxes on the rubric, identifying which descriptors best match the text by marking a particular checkbox.
As Appendix A states, “Few, if any, authentic texts will be low or high on all of these measures.” The goal is not for all of the checkmarks to be in a single column; the goal is to accurately reflect these factors of the text.
The marked rubric can then serve as a guide as educators re-evaluate the initial placement of the work into a text complexity band. Such reflection may validate the text’s placement or may suggest that the placement needs to be changed.
In fact, this marked rubric represents the evaluation of To Kill a Mockingbird completed by a committee of Kansas teachers.

30. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
From examining the quantitative measures, we knew:
870L
Lexile Text Measure:
8.1
Scholastic Grade Level Equivalent:
But after reflecting upon the qualitative measures, we believe:
If we considered only quantitative measures, To Kill a Mockingbird would fall at 870 Lexile level and at the Scholastic Grade Level 8.
However, when thinking about text complexity, it’s not enough to consider only the quantitative measures, we must also consider those measures discernable by humans in both the qualitative leg and the reader/task leg of text complexity

31. Step 2: Qualitative Measures
Our initial placement of To Kill a Mockingbird into a text complexity band changed when we examined the qualitative measures.
Quantitative
Qualitative
Reader and Task
Remember, however, that we have completed only the first two legs of the text complexity triangle.
The reader and task considerations still remain.
Read the slide

32. Step 3: Reader and Task Considerations such as: Motivation
Knowledge and experience
Purpose for reading
Complexity of task assigned regarding text
Complexity of questions asked regarding text
The final segment of the text complexity triangle asks us to consider the reader and task for each text. This is where we consider
Motivation
Knowledge and experience
The purpose for reading
Complexity of the task and questions assigned regarding the text

33. Step 3:Reader and Task Considerations
Questions for Professional Reflection on Reader and Task Considerations:
The questions provided in this resource, developed by Kansas teachers and DOE, are meant to spur teacher thought and reflection upon the text, students, and any tasks associated with the text.
In addition to the rubrics developed in Kansas, educators there also created these questions for professional reflection on reader and task considerations/the final leg of the text complexity triangle.
PREDICT: Where would you place this novel when considering leg number 3: reader and task? Type your response in the chat box

34. Step 3:Reader and Task Considerations
The questions provided in this resource are largely open-ended questions without single, correct answers, but help educators to think through the implications of using a particular text in the classroom.

35. Step 3:Reader and Task Considerations
Reflecting upon the questions posed for Reader and Task Considerations and considering both the quantitative and qualitative measures already discussed, we have the following information to make a decision:
870L
Lexile Text Measure:
8.1
Scholastic Grade Level Equivalent:
In thinking through the reader and task considerations, we confirmed that the quantitative measures indicate a text complexity band that is too low. We also confirmed that the qualitative measures suggestion of a higher text complexity band seems much more appropriate.
In some instances, however, the reader and task considerations may not confirm prior thinking but actually may help to challenge and correct prior thinking.

36. Step 4: Recommended Placement
Based upon all the information—all three legs of the model—the final recommendation for To Kill a Mockingbird is….
Based upon all three legs of the model, we feel the most appropriate placement for the novel is grades 9-10.

37. Step 4: Recommended Placement
In this instance, Appendix B
confirms our evaluation of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird is placed within the grade 9-10 text complexity band.
Validating our analysis, the Common Core Standards List of Exemplar Texts (Appendix B) came to this same conclusion.

38. Step 4: Recommended Placement
Template for Text Complexity Analysis and Recommended Placement Form:
This 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.
Once the recommended placement has been decided upon, educators might also find it useful to document some the thinking that led them to their conclusion.

39. Step 4: Recommended Placement
The template offers space to record information for each of the three legs of the model.

40. An example of a completed template for To Kill a Mockingbird.

41. Poll: I can explain the 3 legs of text complexity to someone.
Yes No

42. Additional Resources for Text Complexity
Text Complexity Bookmarks
Additional Examples of Completed Final Recommendations
Diamond Willow
Hunger Games
How to Steal a Dog
Countdown
These resources can help you make professional decisions about the texts you ask students to read. We will be working here at KDE and also within our teacher leader networks to develop additional completed recommendations for consideration.

43. Not really. I still need more information.
After participating in this webinar, I know where to locate resources to assist me in choosing texts at an appropriate levels for my students.
Not really. I still need more information.
Somewhat. I can locate resources.
Yes. I know where to locate resources and will use them to plan instruction.

44. Many thanks to our colleagues at the Kansas Department of Education and their teachers for sharing the text complexity resources they developed.
KSDE Writing Homepage:
KSDE Reading Homepage:

45. For more information:
The May 2011 Literacy Link focuses on text complexity
Cindy Parker Saundra Hamon
Rebecca Woosley Pam Wininger
Renee Boss Linda Holbrook
Carol Franks Kim Willhoite
April Pieper Kathy Mansfield
Kentucky Department of Education
Office of Next Generation Learners
500 Mero Street
Frankfort KY 40601
Phone: (502)
first.last