The widely adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call for raising the level of text complexity in textbooks and reading materials used by students across all grade levels in the United States; the authors of the English Language Arts component of the CCSS build their case for higher complexity in part upon a research base they say shows a…

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…

This study had two main aims: first, to offer a descriptive account of shared reading program using an evaluative lens and second, to examine whether teachers' perceptions of the importance of phonological awareness, word decoding, and text comprehension in helping young learners develop their reading abilities were indeed emphasized during…

Common Core Reading Standard 10 not only prescribes the difficulty of texts students should become able to read, but also the difficulty diet of texts schools should ask their students to read across the school year. The use of quantitative text-assessment tools in the implementation of this standard warrants an examination into the validity of…

Background: Large-scale randomised controlled trials are relatively rare in education. The present study approximates to, but is not exactly, a randomised controlled trial. It was an attempt to scale up previous small peer tutoring projects, while investing only modestly in continuing professional development for teachers. Purpose: A two-year…

A group of adult education teachers sought to determine if a readability formula applied to classroom materials provided a match with student reading levels. Cloze tests were used to determine whether students were able to understand the material. In three of the eight samples, the Cloze test showed that the readability test did not accurately…

Describes the Lexile Framework(R), which enables teachers to develop personalized instruction based on Lexile measures of reading ability and Lexiled reading lists. The Lexile Framework is based on the entire book, with individual reading ability measured by tests that measure on the same scale on which the books are measured. As an open standard,…

Finding the readability level that challenges the child at his optimum level of instructional performance can help teachers provide for individual differences. (Author/RY)

A study compared the average reading ability levels of freshmen enrolled at an open-door community college with the readability levels of eight content area textbooks used in courses at the institution. Subjects, 100 students enrolled in reading courses, were randomly selected and administered the Nelson-Denny Reading Test to determine reading…

One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found…

Compares the influence of text difficulty on the growth of poor readers' reading ability over 18 weeks of 1-to-1 tutoring. Significant differences favored tutored children. Between approaches, the only significant difference was oral reading fluency, which favored students who read material at their reading level. Students who began with lower…

This paper acquaints the classroom teacher and researcher with the cloze procedure as a multipurpose tool. The cloze procedure is discussed as a measurement, diagnostic, and instructional instrument. In particular, the advantages and disadvantages of the cloze procedure for each of these purposes are considered. Cloze passages, their construction,…

This study investigated the effect of embedded parts (intervening words between the main subject and verb of a sentence) on young readers' abilities to comprehend when the embedded parts do not present a significant change in sentence structure. Two schools in Bemidji, Minnesota, were selected for the study: school one is located in a low…

Reviews the literature concerning informal reading inventories and discusses a number of issues related to them, including question choice, scoring criteria, and allowable miscues. Offers guidelines for constructing and using the inventories. (FL)