Perspectives on Text Complexity in 2011 February 23, 2011 Presented by: A. Jackson Stenner

2 Overview  Introduction to MetaMetrics and the Frameworks  Text Complexity, Reader Ability, and Comprehension Rates  Text Complexity Continuum  Dimensionality of Reading  How Well Does the Lexile Theory Work?  Free Resources for Educators

3  Founded in 1984 as an organization focused on psychometric research and development  Research funded by five grants from NIH  Introduced The Lexile Framework ® for Reading in 1997  Introduced The Quantile Framework ® for Mathematics in 2005  Introduced The Lexile Framework ® for Writing in 2006 Introduction to MetaMetrics

4  Measurement Properties – Vertical Scale – Common Supplemental Scale – Focus on Individual Student Growth K-16 – Connects the Day-to-Day with the Year-to-Year  Metric is Instrument-Independent  Instructional Properties – Differentiated Instruction – Links Assessment/Instruction – Educator, Parent, and Student Actionable Features and Benefits of Our Frameworks

5 Reading is a process in which information from the text and the knowledge possessed by the reader act together to produce meaning. Anderson, R.C., Hiebert, E.H., Scott, J.A., & Wilkinson, I.A.G. (1985) Becoming a nation of readers: The report of the Commission on Reading Urbana, IL: University of Illinois

6  A causal model relating reader ability, text complexity and comprehension  Measures reader ability and text complexity on a common scale—the Lexile scale  Allows educators to forecast the level of comprehension a reader is likely to experience with a particular text The Lexile Framework for Reading

7 = Reader Ability Text Complexity Comprehension - Conceptual Statistical Raw Score = Σ i e (RA – TC ) i 1 + e (RA – TC i ) RA = Reader Ability TC = Text Complexity An Equation

8 Comprehension Rates for Readers of Different Ability with Texts of the Same Complexity or How Reader Ability and Comprehension Rate Relate Under Constant Text Complexity Reader AbilityClassroom TextbookComprehension Rates 500L 750L 1000L 1250L 1500L 1000L 25% 50% 75% 90% 96% Comprehension Rates for Fixed Text Complexity

9 Comprehension Rates for Readers of the Same Ability with Texts of Different Complexity or How Reader Ability and Comprehension Rate Relate Under Varying Text Complexity Reader Ability Text Complexity Text Titles Comprehension Rates 1000L 500L 750L 1000L 1250L 1500L The Magic School Bus, Inside the Earth (Cole) The Martian Chronicles (Bradbury) The Reader’s Digest The Call of the Wild (London) On Equality Among Mankind (Rousseau) 96% 90% 75% 50% 25% Comprehension Rates for Fixed Reader Ability

10 Williamson, G.L. (2008). A text readability continuum for post-secondary readiness. Journal of Advanced Academics, 19(4), Text Complexity Continuum

11 Observed vs. Aspirational Text Complexity Stenner, A.J., Koons, H., Swartz, C.W. (2009). Closing the text complexity gap: Reconceptualizing the text curve.

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13 Commissioned by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

14 Consistency Across States  Cut Points – Commended/Advanced – 1490L, 1475L, 1460L – College Ready – 1170L, 1200L, 1215L – Standard/Basic – 1015L, 960L, 980L  Text Distributions

15 Text View Vs Reader View

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18 r = r” = R 2” = RMSE” = 99.8L Figure 1: Plot of Theoretical Text Complexity versus Empirical Text Complexity for 475 articles “Mythology” Reliability =.996 SEM = 12L

19 Oasis: Usage Report by Grade

20 Oasis: Usage Report by Reader Lexile

21 Oasis: Usage Report By Category of Article

22 A. Jackson Stenner Contact: