Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Why Does Text Complexity Matter?





The American College Testing Service, in its influential study “Reading Between the Lines”, determined a proficiency level on their reading assessment. 51% of students taking the assessment in 2006 scored above this benchmark. These students were more likely to:
  • ·      Enroll in college.
  • ·      Earn a grade of B or higher in first‐year U.S. history and psychology classes.
  • ·      Earn a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • ·      Return for a second year at the same institution.

In addition, it was also found that 47% of students who met the reading test benchmark met the science test benchmark as well.  However, only 5% of students who did not meet the reading benchmark met the science test benchmark.

Student responses were analyzed with the goal of determining what patterns might distinguish students scoring above the benchmark from those below. The major findings follow:
·      Literal vs. inferential question type failed to differentiate students scoring above the benchmark from those scoring below.
·      Questions focusing on textual elements—main idea/author’s purpose, supporting details, meaning of words, and generalizations and conclusions—also failed to differentiate students scoring above from those scoring below.
·      The clearest difference of performance between the two groups was degree of text complexity, in the passages that acted as “sorters” within the assessment. This finding held true for males and females, all racial groups, and all socio-economic levels.

How did we arrive at a situation where so many of our students fail to understand complex text?

1.     School textbooks and reading demands K¬12 have become easier.
a.     Every year since 1962 the difficulty of text (vocabulary, word count, sentence length, sentence type) has declined.
2.     College books and college reading have NOT gotten easier.
a.     Reading levels of college texts have increased since 1962
3.     Curriculum and pedagogy has exacerbated the problem of declining K-12 text complexity.
a.     Texts are more heavily scaffolded in K-12, while not scaffolded in college or career text.
b.     Predominance of literature versus informational text in K-12.




What are the consequences of many students not being able to read complex text?

1.     Students entering college require remediation in reading.
2.     Those students that required remediation are 41% more likely to drop out of college.
3.     Adult literacy rates have dropped significantly over the last decade.
4.     Percentage of adults reading any book dropped by 7% in the last decade.


Being able to read complex text critically with understanding and insight is essential for achievement in college and/or career.  Moreover, if students cannot read challenging texts, they will read less in general, extending the societal effects on reading and literacy.  The problem of lack of reading and literacy is not only getting worse, it is doing so at an accelerated rate.  Although numerous factors likely contribute to the decline in reading, it is reasonable to conclude that the deterioration in overall reading ability, abetted by a decline in K-12 text complexity, is a contributing factor.




References:

Achieve, 2007 Closing the Expectations Gap. Washington, DC: Achieve, Inc.

Between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies. The Reading Teacher, American College Testing (2006)“Reading Between the Lines: What the ACT Reveals about College Readiness in Reading” American College Testing, Iowa City: Iowa.

Best Practices National Governors Association (2005) Reading to Achieve: A Governor’s Guide of Adolescent Literacy. Wasington, DC: National Governor’s Association.

Bradshaw, T., (2004)“Reading at Risk” Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts

Gioia, D., (2007)”To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence” Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts.

Hiebert , E. (Ed.),Reading more, reading better: Are American students reading enough of the right stuff? New York: Guilford Publications, 2009.

Hoffman, J. et al., (2004) Building a Culture of Trust. Journal of School Leadership

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