Informational Texts - What Makes a Text Complex?

The Common Core State Standards/Missouri Learning Standards place a strong emphasis on the role of text complexity in evaluating student readiness for college and careers. The importance of both increasing the complexity of texts students read and the need for teachers to understand more about what makes texts challenging arose out of research that showed that the clearest differentiator in reading between students who are college ready and students who are not is the ability to comprehend complex texts. Here are some guidelines to think about when you are trying to choose complex, informational texts to use in daily instruction:

SLIGHTLY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Explicitly stated; clear, concrete with a narrow focus
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between ideas, processes or events are explicit and clear; organization of text is clear or chronological or easy to predict
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, help the reader navigate and understand content but are not essential
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, simple graphics, unnecessary to understanding the text but directly support and assist in interpreting the written text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Explicit, literal, straightforward, easy to understand
• VOCABULARY: Contemporary, familiar, conversational language
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly simple sentences
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Everyday, practical knowledge; simple, concrete ideas
• INTERTEXTUALITY: No references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc. 

MODERATELY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Implied, but easy to identify based upon context or source
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between some ideas or events are implicit or subtle; organization is evident and generally sequential
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, enhance the reader's understanding of content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, graphics mostly supplementary to understanding of the text, such as indexes, glossaries, graphs, pictures, tables, and charts directly support the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Largely explicit and easy to understand with some occasions for more complex meaning
• VOCABULARY: Mostly contemporary, familiar, conversational; rarely unfamiliar or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Simple and compound sentences, with some more complex constructions
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Everyday, practical knowledge and some discipline-specific content knowledge; both simple and more complicated, abstract ideas
• INTERTEXTUALITY: A few references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

VERY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Implied, but fairly easy to infer; more theoretical than concrete
• ORGANIZATION OFMAIN IDEAS: Connections between an expanded range of ideas, processes or events are deeper and often implicit or subtle; organization may contain multiple pathways and may exhibit traits common to a specific discipline
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, greatly enhance the reader's understanding of content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, essential integrated graphics, tables, charts, etc.; may occasionally be essential to understanding the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Complex; contains some abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Somewhat complex language that is sometimes unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Many complex sentences with several subordinate phrases or clauses and transition words
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Moderate levels of discipline-specific content knowledge; some theoretical knowledge may enhance understanding; range of recognizable ideas and challenging abstract concepts
• INTERTEXTUALITY: Some references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.

EXCEEDINGLY COMPLEX INFORMATIONAL TEXTS:

• PURPOSE: Subtle, implied, difficult to determine; intricate, theoretical elements
• ORGANIZATION OF MAIN IDEAS: Connections between an expanded range of ideas or events are deep, intricate and often implicit or subtle; organization of the text is intricate or specialized for a particular discipline
• TEXT FEATURES: If used, are essential in understanding content
• USE OF GRAPHICS: If used, extensive, intricate, essential integrated graphics, tables, charts, etc., necessary to make meaning of text; also may provide information not otherwise conveyed in the text
• CONVENTIONALITY: Dense and complex; contains abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language
• VOCABULARY: Generally unfamiliar, archaic, subject-specific, or overly academic language; may be ambiguous or purposefully misleading
• SENTENCE STRUCTURE: Mainly complex sentences often containing multiple concepts
• SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: Extensive, perhaps specialized or even theoretical discipline-specific content knowledge; range of challenging abstract and theoretical concepts
• INTERTEXTUALITY: Many references or allusions to other texts or outside ideas, theories, etc.