November 18th, 2014

ELA Review and Adoption

Committee

Norms Be fully present

Appreciate the importance of our work

Be honest & respectful

Honor differences

Lean into discomfort

GOALS

A Guaranteed Viable ELA Curriculum for NKSD students in NK!

understand the standards

determine the most important learnings at each grade level

determine materials needs

pilot materials

select materials

provide support with new materials

Roadmap

11/18/14: Introduction, learning shifts, text complexity

1/20/14: Essential outcomes from the standards

3/17/14: Materials selection rubrics

5/19/14: Discussion on fidelity and supports

6/22/15: Review/select pilot materials

6/23/15: Design support for pilot

11/17/15: Analyze pilot feedback

2/16/15: Final materials recommendations

2015-2016: Subcommittee work – supporting the implementation:

assessments, pacing, coaching, intervention, enrichment etc…

Sharing

Be a resource at your school.

Share learning with colleagues in ways that are comfortable for you.

There may be formal feedback gathering

Text Complexity:English Language Arts Common

Core State Standards

Text Complexity Matters

Referenced from Erik Iwersen, June, 2012

Questions to Explore Today

What is a grade level text complexity band?

What are the three measures for text complexity, and how do we use these measures to evaluate a text for its complexity?

How do we ensure the texts that we use are appropriately complex, and align to the correct grade level band?

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Why Text Complexity Matters

Text Lexile Score

CD‐DVD Instructions 1080USA Today 1100AV/Communications/Tech. Manual 1190College Textbooks 1215Baltimore Sun 1250W4 Forms 1260Applications for Student Loans 1270The Chicago Tribune 1310Wall Street Journal 1320Architecture/Construction Manuals 1340Washington Post 1350The New York Times 1380Agriculture/Natural Resources text 1510Law/Public Safety 1740

*Scores listed are averages

(MetaMetrics,2001)

The Majority of High School SeniorsOnly reach levels within the 940-1200 range

Use the Standards as a Roadmap

Specifically, within reading standard #10:

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standard:

R.CCR.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Example Grade-level Common Core Standard(6thgrade):

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.

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(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)

Video Overview of Text Complexity

Grade Bands

2-3

4-5

6-8

9-10

11-12

K-1

Activity #1

My Grandmother’s Hair

As a small group, read “My Grandmother’s Hair” and answer the three questions provided at the bottom of the page…

Discussion On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the overall complexity

of this text?

What features of this text support your rating of its complexity?

 At what grade level might this text be appropriate for instruction? Why?

Text complexity is defined by three measures in the CCSS:

Qualita

tiv

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Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands often best measured by an attentive human reader.

Quan

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Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity often best measured by computer software.

Reader and Task

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.

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)15

Step 1: Quantitative Measures

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) 16

Measures such as:• Word length• Word frequency• Word difficulty• Sentence length• Text length• Text cohesion

Text Complexity Grade Bands

Suggested Lexile Range

Suggested ATOS Book Level Range**

K-1 100L – 500L* 1.0 – 2.5

2-3 450L – 790L 2.0 – 4.0

4-5 770L – 980L 3.0 – 5.7

6-8 955L – 1155L 4.0 – 8.0

9-10 1080L – 1305L 4.6 – 10.0

11-CCR 1215L – 1355L 4.8 – 12.0

Quantitative Measures Ranges for Text Complexity Grade Bands

Kansas Common Core Standards

* The K-1 suggested Lexile range was not identified by the Common Core State Standards and was added by Kansas.

** Taken from Accelerated Reader and the Common Core State Standards, available at the following URL: http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004572117GKC46B.pdf

Finding a Lexile Measure for Text: http://www.lexile.com/findabook/

Step 1: Quantitative Measures

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Finding a ATOS Book Level for Text: http://www.arbookfind.com/

Step 1: Quantitative Measures

Quantitative Measures: Limitations

Sometimes, quantitative measures for text complexity can be limiting, or measure a text inappropriately. Why might this be the case?

For example: John Steinbeck’s, The Grapes of Wrath

This novel is given a Lexile rating of grades 2-3.

Step 2: Qualitative Measures

Measures such as:• Structure• Language

Demands and Conventions

• Knowledge Demands

• Levels of Meaning/Purpose

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) 21

Qualitative Measures: Other Factors

• Word difficulty and language structure

• Dialect

• Text structure

• Discourse style (e.g., satire, humor)

• Genre and characteristic features of the text

• Background knowledge and/or degree of familiarity with the content (including historical, geographical or literary references)

• Level of reasoning required (e.g. difficulty of themes or ideas in the text, abstract concepts in the text)

• Format and layout of the text

• Length of the text (Hess and Biggam, 2004)

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The Qualitative Measures Rubrics for Literary and Informational Text

The rubric for literary text and the rubric for informational text allow educators to evaluate the important elements of

text that are often missed by computer software.

Literary Texts Informational Texts

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(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010

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

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)

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Reader, Task, and Motivation

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)

Determining Text Complexity

A Four-step Process:

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)("Ar bookfinder," 2012) ("The lexile framework," 2012)

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Quan

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Qualita

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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.

1. Determine the quantitative measures of the text.

Step 2: Qualitative Measures

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Steps 1, 2 & 3 of the process compiled on one document. See Appendix A for more examples.

(National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010)

6-8 Text Complexity Band