#textcomplexity

Results from a study by Hiebert in which she compared three different tiered text sets from three different publishers to determine if the necessary text features to support developing readers (particularly vocabulary and volume, i.e. sentence length) are present. Crucial finding: "For struggling readers, two features of text matter a great deal—the vocabulary and the volume of reading. The perspective underlying the texts for struggling readers in these programs of leveled texts goes in the opposite direction of what struggling readers need. Rather than getting texts with more accessible vocabulary, they get texts where the ideas have been sacrificed or simplified to comply with the aim of achieving a target text complexity." My take-away: eschew ready-made, multi-leveled text sets from publishers. Teachers need to be empowered to locate, evaluate, and curate their own text collections to suit the particular needs and interests of their own learners.

A project by linguists based at BYU. The site includes downloadable word lists as well as online interfaces for detailed information about particular words as well as feedback about inputted academic text, i.e. frequency of Tier 2 words in a text.

Founded by Elfrieda H. (Freddy) Hiebert "to bring beginning and struggling readers to high levels of literacy through a variety of strategies and tools, particularly the texts used for reading instruction." This website includes resources for students, teachers, and professional development plus links to research and webinar events.

Here's a little Prezi I put together to delve into Text Complexity.  I just got the AWESOME new book by Fisher and Frey Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading, so I'm learning more and hoping to update.  This presentation is completely based on the excellent presentation I attended giving by Fisher and Frey at the IRA Convention in Chicago.