DETERMINING TEXT COMPLEXITY (6-12)

Small Group Discussion

How do you select grade level appropriate, sufficiently complex text that engages the reader?

• For instruction?

• For assessment?

ELA/Literacy Shifts at the Heart of PARCC Design:

Complexity

Evidence Knowledge

CCSS AND PASSAGES

• Complex, Rich Texts

• Passage Selection Guidelines

• Appendix B

Reading Standards include exemplar texts (stories and literature, poetry, and informational texts) that illustrate appropriate level of complexity by grade. Text complexity is defined by:

Qualita

tiv

e

1.Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands

Quan

titati

ve2.Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity

Reader and Task

3.Reader and Task – background knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned

Overview of Text Complexity

LITERARY CRITERIA

• Meaning• Text Structure• Language Features• Knowledge Demands

Optional:• Use of Graphics• Audio Stimulus• Visual/Video Stimulus

INFORMATIONAL CRITERIA

• Purpose• Text Structure• Language Features• Knowledge Demands

Optional:• Use of Graphics• Audio Stimulus• Visual/Video Stimulus

Text Complexity Worksheets

Let’s Explore…

Take a look at the Literary Complexity Analysis Worksheet (blue) and the Informational Complexity Analysis Worksheet (yellow).

• Note the differences between the two worksheets.

• Note the differences among the readily accessible, moderately complex, and very complex columns.

How to Use the Complexity Analysis Worksheets:• Record your quantitative measures:

• Lexile—www.lexile.com • 6-8 (925-1185)• 9-10 (1050-1335)• 11-12 (1185-1385)

• Source Rater--http://naeptba.ets.org/SourceRater3/ • 6-8 (5.85-10.87)• 9-10 (8.41-12.26)• 11-12 (9.62-13.47)

**Some passages/texts cannot be effectively quantified!!**

How to Use the Complexity Analysis Worksheets:

• Determine an initial grade placement based on the quantitative numbers (if applicable).

• Use the qualitative analysis rubric to determine text complexity.

• Record text complexity and evidence for rating

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Excerpt:

• Quantitative measures:• Lexile: 950• Source Rater: 13.6

• Qualitative measures:• Meaning: Moderately/Very Complex• Text Structure: Moderately Complex• Language Features: Moderately Complex• Knowledge Demand: Moderately/Very Complex

• Overall Rating: Moderately Complex• Multiple levels of meaning with subtle theme; two

or more story lines; some academic and archaic language and use of figurative language; text makes references/allusions that are only partially explained

Let’s Practice

Please read “Oh Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman (handout).

• The initial placement of this poem is at grade 9.

• Use the Literary Complexity Analysis Worksheet to determine the complexity level of the poem. (Poems can’t be quantified using current systems such as Lexile and Source Rater.)

• Be prepared to share your text complexity determination (use evidence from the rubric).

The results?

• Complexity Level:

• Reasons:

Other Considerations when choosing appropriate text:

• Does the passage/excerpt/book lend itself to the grade level Common Core Standards?

• Is the passage/excerpt/book engaging?

• Will the students gain knowledge through their interaction with the passage/excerpt/book?

Questions?

More Practice

• Science: “How Underground Rodent Wards Off Cancer: Second Mole Rat Species Has Different Mechanism for Resisting Cancer” (Lexile: 1430; Source Rater:11.1)