NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Showing all 9 results Save | Export
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
Dahl, Amanda C.; Carlson, Sarah E.; Renken, Maggie; McCarthy, Kathryn S.; Reynolds, Erin – Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 2021
Purpose: Complex features of science texts present idiosyncratic challenges for middle grade readers, especially in a post-Common Core educational world where students' learning is dependent on understanding informational text. The primary aim of this study was to explore how middle school readers process science texts and whether such…
Descriptors: Science Materials, Textbooks, Difficulty Level, Readability
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
Goldman, Susan R.; Lee, Carol D. – Elementary School Journal, 2014
Standards for literacy in the twenty-first century raise the bar on the complexity of texts and the tasks for which they are used. The strengths and limitations of contemporary approaches to text complexity are discussed with respect to major points raised in the six articles in this special issue. In addition, four features of text that are of…
Descriptors: Difficulty Level, Readability, Readability Formulas, Reader Text Relationship
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
Hiebert, Elfrieda H.; Pearson, P. David – Elementary School Journal, 2014
The Common Core State Standards represent the first standards document to address whether students are able to read progressively more complex texts as they progress across the grades. This article gives an overview of the three components of the model of text complexity that were identified in Appendix A of the Standards and also were the basis…
Descriptors: State Standards, Difficulty Level, Readability, Readability Formulas
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
Pearson, P. David; Hiebert, Elfrieda H. – Elementary School Journal, 2014
The purpose of this article is to understand the function, logic, and impact of qualitative systems for analyzing text complexity, focusing on their benefits and imperfections. We identified two primary functions for their use: (a) to match texts to reader ability so that readers read books that are within their grasp, and (b) to unearth, and then…
Descriptors: Qualitative Research, Readability, Readability Formulas, Difficulty Level
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
Hiebert, Elfrieda H.; Mesmer, Heidi Anne E. – Educational Researcher, 2013
The Common Core Standards for the English Language Arts (CCSS) provide explicit guidelines matching grade-level bands (e.g., 2-3, 4-5) with targeted text complexity levels. The CCSS staircase accelerates text expectations for students across Grades 2-12 in order to close a gap in the complexity of texts typically used in high school and those of…
Descriptors: Core Curriculum, State Standards, Alignment (Education), Grade 2
Hiebert, Elfrieda H.; Pearson, P. David – Online Submission, 2010
This study considers the degree to which two quantitative indices--Lexiles and Coh-Metrix--discriminate across levels of difficulty and types of beginning reading texts. The database consisted of 444 texts, representing seven text types that are part of reading/language arts instruction. These text types were distributed across seven levels of…
Descriptors: Beginning Reading, Early Reading, Reader Text Relationship, Reading Instruction
Aspen Institute, 2012
What is meant by text complexity is a measurement of how challenging a particular text is to read. There are a myriad of different ways of explaining what makes text challenging to read, from the sophistication of the vocabulary employed to the length of its sentences to even measurements of how the text as a whole coheres. Research shows that no…
Descriptors: State Standards, Predictor Variables, Reading Ability, College Readiness
O'Hear, Michael F.; Ramsey, Richard N. – 1990
A study was conducted to determine whether there was any match between student perception of reading ease and the readability of three main line, first-year college composition texts (Daugherty; Kinneavy, McCleary, and Nakadate; Lauer, Montague, Lunsford, and Emig) as determined by five commonly used readability formulas. Two chapters (on…
Descriptors: Difficulty Level, Freshman Composition, Higher Education, Readability
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Israelite, Neita Kay – American Annals of the Deaf, 1988
Readability formulas applied to materials for hearing-impaired students do not account for important factors in reader-writer-text interaction. Factors include the reader's purpose, cultural background, and extent of background knowledge; writers' assumptions about readers; the text's structure, content, and cohesion; and the role of…
Descriptors: Authors, Difficulty Level, Elementary Secondary Education, Hearing Impairments