Text Complexity and Informational Text: Home

The ATOS readability formula guides students to appropriate-level books...ATOS takes into account the most important predictors of text complexity—average sentence length, average word length, and word difficulty level. The results are provided in a grade-level scale that is easy to use and understand.

The Degrees of Reading Power test does not assign text complexity levels for books, rather it is a test for students to help match them to an appropriate text complexity level for reading.

The Lexile® Framework for Reading is a scientific approach to measuring both reading ability and the text complexity of reading materials on the same developmental scale.

"The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade."

"The Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks provide teachers, students and families with clear and shared expectations for what all students should know and be able to do at the end of each year."

"The AASL Standards framework reflects a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning by demonstrating the connection between learner, school librarian, and school library standards."

"Through a collaborative, state-led process, new K-12 science standards have been developed that are rich in both content and practice, and arranged in a coherent manner across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally benchmarked science education. The NGSS were released in 2013 and are being implemented in states and districts across the nation."

List of decodable text sources from The Reading League. Includes options for a variety of age levels.

High interest, low complexity titles from Orca Publishing.

The three factors of text complexity from the Common Core Standards.

From the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

"The ZPD refers to the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner. Thus, the term 'proximal' refers those skills that the learner is 'close' to mastering."

Click here to download the chart above.

Library-themed webcomic by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum

"Here are 75 books chosen by the American Library Association & Children’s Book Council Joint Committee to provide guidance to parents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and others interested in discovering books for children who read at an advanced level and are seeking more challenging, but still age-appropriate, books."

EdWeb has a lot of great informational webinars on educational issues, including reading and text complexity. Most of their webinars are free and archived for later viewing.

How Encyclopedia Britannica levels content within the Britannica School products.

How Gale uses content reading levels within the "In Context" databases.

Good overview on a few reading systems, plus a crosswalk chart for comparing.

Look up a book's Lexile score, or find a list of books within a specific Lexile range.

This article provides research-backed charts explaining the typical Lexile ranges for each grade.

An explanation of the standardized reading levels that OverDrive uses in their database.

Interview with the creators of the Fountas & Pinnell system. "Both researchers have been adamant that their leveling system was designed as a teacher’s tool, not a child’s label. "

White paper from the Council of Chief State School Officers and National Governors Association on text complexity as how it is used within the Common Core.

Overview of the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy approaches to reading instruction.

School Library Journal by Katie Egan Cunningham

"Kids need to read books that they can both decode (read the words) and comprehend (understand the meaning). Teachers call this a “just right” book, or a book that is at the child’s instructional level." Article by Melissa Taylor

A great overview of decodable texts from Reading Rockets.