The Complexities of Reading Comprehension

What is Reading?

Reading is an active and complex process that involves: Understanding written text, Developing and interpreting meaning, and Using meaning as appropriate to type of text, purpose,

and situation. (NAEP Framework, 2009)

Reading is the single most important educational skill that students will learn. As students move up in grade levels, text demand significantly increases.

2

2

FCAT 2.0 Reading

Grades 3-10All multiple-choice itemsIncreased content rigor — aligned to the

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS)

3

FCAT 2.0 Reading: Examples of Increased Rigor

Students will be asked more often to: use reasonable prior knowledge, such as grade-

appropriate vocabulary make reasonable inferences that are not explicitly

text-based analyze information across a pair of texts, such as

making comparisons of main ideas

4

Reading Reporting Categories Changing

FCAT Reading FCAT 2.0 ReadingWords and Phrases in Context

Vocabulary

Main Idea, Plot, and Purpose

Reading Application

Comparisons and Cause and Effect

Literary Analysis: Fiction and Non Fiction

Reference and Research Informational Text and Research Process

5

FCAT 2.0 Achievement Levels

6

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

18%15% 16% 17% 18% 19% 19% 19%

25% 26% 26% 24% 24% 28% 29% 30%

23% 26% 27% 29% 29%26% 23% 22%

24% 23% 22% 19% 19% 17% 18% 20%

10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10% 10%

Percentage in each Achievement Level—Rec-ommended Cuts

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5Grade

Florida FY2011 ReadingComparing Percents in Level 3+

72

71

69

67

68

55

48

39

57

59

58

58

58

53

51

52

*Estimated percents at grades 8 and 9

9

An fMRI Study of Strategic Reading Comprehension

While there have been neuro-imaging studies of text comprehension, little is known about the brainmechanisms underlying strategic learning from text.

Up until recently, these studies have not examined the differences in brain activity associated with different reading strategies.

10

Reading Strategies

Comprehension Monitoring: Being aware of how well you understand what you are reading.

Paraphrasing: Stating the sentences in your own words.

Prediction: Predicting what will come next in the text.

Elaboration: Linking information in the sentence to information you already know.

Bridging: Linking different parts of a text together.

11

12

The Percent Of Students Who Have Previously Scored A Level 3 Or Higher On FCAT Reading

2011 FCAT ResultsGrade Of Students Scoring Level 1

on the FCAT Reading, the Percent who have previously scored a Level 3 or higher in

Reading

Of Students Scoring Level 2 on the FCAT Reading, the Percent who have previously scored a Level 3 or higher in Reading

4 21 53

5 29 67

6 36 76

7 31 72

8 43 85

9 46 87

10 58 9012

The Text Complexity: The Missing Standard13

Common Core State Standards Text Complexity

The Common Core State Standards places a strong emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating student readiness for college and careers.

“The Common Core State Standards hinge on students encountering appropriately complex texts at each grade level in order to develop the mature language skills and the conceptual knowledge they need for success in school and life.” (p. 3)

14

Text Complexity

Included within the Standards is an enhanced focus on text complexity.

Specifically, within reading standard #10:

Anchor Standard: R.CCR.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and

informational texts independently and proficiently.

Example Grade-level Standard (6th grade):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.

15

Guiding Questions

What do the Common Core Learning Standards mean by text complexity?

What is a text complexity band?and

How do we ensure the texts our students are reading are in the appropriate text complexity band?

16

Text Complexity - ACT Study

Purpose: Determine what distinguished the reading performance of students likely to succeed in college and not.

• Process: Set benchmark score on the reading test

shown to be predictive of success in college (“21” on ACT composite score).

Looked at results from a half million students.

17

Performance on the ACT Reading Test by Comprehension Level

(Averaged across Seven Forms)

18

Performance on the ACT Reading Test by Textual Element

(Averaged across Seven Forms)19

Text Complexity Matters

Texts used in the ACT Reading Test reflect three degrees of complexity: uncomplicated, more challenging, and complex.

20

21

Performance on the ACT Reading Test by Degree of Text Complexity

(Averaged across Seven Forms)

In this figure, performance on questions associated with uncomplicated and morechallenging texts both above and below the ACT College Readiness Benchmark forReading follows a pattern similar to those in the previous analyses. Improvement on each of the two kinds of questions is gradual and fairly uniform.

21

21

Recap of ACT Findings

Question type and level (main idea, word meanings, details) is NOT the chief differentiator between student scoring above and below the benchmark.

The degree of text complexity in the passages acted as the “sorters” within ACT. The findings held true for both males and females, all racial groups and was steady regardless of family income level.

What students could read, in terms of its complexity--rather than what they could do with what they read—is greatest predictor of success. FCAT has complex passages and highly cognitive demanding questions.

22

Close Reading

• Past standards have been based largely upon theories of reading comprehension drawn from cognitive science.

• These theories have emphasized procedures or strategies that readers could use to guide their reading (e.g., summarization, questioning, monitoring, visualizing).

• The common core standards are also based upon theory, but literary theory not psychological theory.

• These standards depend heavily upon “New Criticism.”

Close Reading (cont.)

Implications:• Students need to engage in deep analysis of the text

and its meaning and implications to a greater extent.• Less emphasis on background information,

comprehension strategies, picture walks, etc. (though these still can be brought in by teachers).

• Greater emphasis on careful reading of a text, weighing of author’s diction, grammar, and organization to make sense of the text.

• Rereading will play a greater role in teaching reading.

Close Reading

Good readers engage in close reading to extract the most meaning from complex text. Close reading is a process that entails reading and rereading multiple times, each time with a different purpose and focus.  Close reading is micro-reading. It is the attentive reading of a text. It is a finely detailed, very specific examination of a text. For some students, this examination may require teachers to break text into smaller segments. If the text is short, the entire text lends itself to a close read. If, however, the text is lengthy, the teacher may select specific text segments for a close read and then relate those segments to the whole work.

25

Close Reading - Implications

• Students will need to engage to a greater extent in deep analysis of the text and its meaning and implications.

• Less emphasis on background information, comprehension strategies, picture walks, etc. (though these still can be brought in by teachers)

• Greater emphasis on careful reading of a text, weighing of author’s diction, grammar, and organization to make sense of the text.

• Rereading will play a greater role in teaching reading.

Reader and TaskTen Guiding Principles

1. Make close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.

2. Provide scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text.

3. Ask text dependent questions from a range of question types.

4. Emphasize students supporting answers based upon evidence from the text.

5. Provide extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

27

Step 3: Reader and TaskTen Guiding Principles

6. Offer regular opportunities for students to share ideas, evidence, and research.

7. Offer systematic instruction in vocabulary.

8. Ensure wide reading from complex text that varies in length.

9. Provide explicit instruction in grammar and conventions.

10. Cultivate students’ independence.

28

Teaching Reading is Urgent

A student at the 10th percentile reads about 60,000 words a year in 5th grade.

A student at the 50th percentile reads about 900,000 words a year in 5th grade.

Average students receive about 15 times as much practice in a year. (Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding, 1988)

30