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Upping the Ante of Text
Complexity in the Common
Core State Standards:
Examining Its Potential Impact
on Young Readers
A Webinar given on June 13, 2013
For Lexercise
By Heidi Anne E. Mesmer, Ph D
What are the Common Core State
Standards for the English Language
arts?
National Curriculum Standards
States Adopting the Common Core
The Common Core and
Text Complexity
Common Core’s Definition of Text
Complexity
“the inherent difficulty of reading and
comprehending a text combined with the
considerations of reader and task variables
(CCSS-ELA, 2010, p.43).”
Common Core’s :
Three-Part Model For Text Complexity
All of the major
educational
publishing entities
are on board.
Source: Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State
Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text
Complexity
Quantitative
New/CCS Text Difficulty Range
Old Text Difficulty Range (Metametrics)
New (Common Core State Standards) &
Old (Metametrics)
Hiebert, E. H. & Mesmer H.A. (2013). Upping the Ante of Text Complexity in the
Common Core State Standards: Examining its Potential Impact on Young Readers.
Educational Researcher, 42 (1). 44-51.
Standard 10 Range of Reading and
Text Complexity
2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade
Comprehend information texts including history/social studies, science, and technical texts at the high end of the 2-3 band
Comprehend information texts including history/social studies, science, and technical texts at the high end of the 2-3 band
Comprehend history/social studies, science, technical text, in4-5 text complexity band
Comprehend history/social studies, science, technical text, in 4-5 text complexity band
with scaffolding as needed at that higher levels
independently and proficiently.
with scaffolding as needed at that higher levels
independently and proficiently.
450-790 770-980
A Text Complexity Chasm: The Rationale for Increasing Complexity
High School College and
Career
New, HIGHER Text Difficulty Standards have been changed in the Ed Publishing industry
Test passage difficulties will get higher
When states go to design a 3rd Grade Text they will look to these Lexile-levels which will become “standard.”
Who Cares?
Other Trends and Issues
More Informational Text
Literary Non
Fiction in HS
Building Knowledge Depth
across Grades: Text Sets
Human Body-Exemplar Texts with Increasing
Difficulty
K
-5 Senses
-Taking care of the body –hygiene, diet, exercise
1
-Intro to the systems of the human body
-Taking care of the body-germs & disease
2
-Muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems
-Digestive systems
-Taking care of the body nutrition.
“Close” Reading
Materials provide opportunities for students to build
knowledge through close reading of specific texts.
Close reading and gathering knowledge from specific texts
should be at the heart of classroom activities and not be
consigned to the margins when completing assignments.
Reading strategies should work in the service of reading
comprehension (rather than an end unto themselves) and
assist students in building knowledge and insight from
specific texts.
Text Dependent Questions
A significant percentage of tasks and
questions are text dependent. The standards
strongly focus on students gathering evidence,
knowledge, and insight from what they read and
therefore require that a majority of the questions
and tasks that students ask and respond to be
based on the text under consideration.
The “Stretch Text”
Students need opportunities to stretch their reading abilities
but also to experience the satisfaction and pleasure of easy,
fluent reading within them, both of which the Standards allow
for. . . Students deeply interested in a given topic, for
example, may engage with texts on that subject across a
range of complexity. Particular tasks may also require
students to read harder texts than they would normally be
required to. (Appendix A, page 9)
What is stretch? Usually a level that surpasses the standards for reader-
text matching.
Length
1st Grade
50-250 Words
4th Grade
2000 Words Increase of 3750 words
Afflerbach, et al. 2001Average Change
in length
Some lightening of the text
load
Textproject.org
textproject.org
References Afflerbach, P. (1998). Reading assessment and learning to read. In J. Osborn
& F. Lehr (Eds.), Literacy for all: Issues in teaching and learning (pp. 239–
263). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
ACT. (2006). Reading between the lines: What the ACT reveals about college readiness in
reading. Iowa City, IA: Author.
Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2010). Common Core State Standards
for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and
technical subjects. Washington, DC: CCSSO & National Governors Association.
Hiebert, E. H. & Mesmer H.A. (2013). Upping the Ante of Text Complexity in
the Common Core State Standards: Examining its Potential
Impact on Young Readers. Educational Researcher, 42 (1). 44-51.
Mesmer, H., Cunningham, J. W., Hiebert, E. H. (2012). Toward a theoretical
model of text complexity for the early grades: Learning from the
past, anticipating the future. Reading Research Quarterly,47 (3),
234-258
Hiebert, E. H. & Mesmer, H. A. (2013). Meeting Standard 10 of the Common Core State
Standards: How principals can support students’ reading of complex text.
Principal Leadership, 13 (5). 30-33.
Mesmer, H. A. (2008). Tools for matching readers to texts: Research-based practices. New
York: Guilford Press.