Text Complexity & Complex Text

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Why it works

Reading research and standards emphasize that students need to read appropriately complex text to grow, and that the response to a hard text should be scaffolding, not substitution with easier material, which denies students the challenge they need. Understanding what makes a text complex, vocabulary, sentence structure, knowledge demands, structure, lets teachers choose well and scaffold the specific difficulty rather than lowering the bar.

The research: Research on text complexity; standards on complex text.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: scaffold one complex text

Teachers leave having identified a text's specific difficulty and planned scaffolds for it.

Pick a complex text worth reading.
Identify what makes it complex: vocabulary, syntax, knowledge demands, structure.
Plan scaffolds that address that specific difficulty: background, chunking, re-reading, discussion.
Keep the complexity, scaffold the access.

Scaffold the text, don't replace itGrowth comes from grappling with complex text. Support the specific difficulty, do not swap the challenge for easy material.

Facilitator notes

Choose appropriately complex text.
Identify the specific difficulty and scaffold that, not everything.
Keep the complexity.

Do not swap challenge for easeReplacing complex text with easy text for instruction removes the growth. Scaffold the specific hard parts and keep the complexity.

Adapt it

Elementary: read-alouds of complex text, scaffolded.
Secondary: scaffolded complex content-area text.
All settings: identify the difficulty, scaffold it.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Text Complexity: scaffold, don't replace

Access the challenge: know what makes a text complex and scaffold that specific difficulty.

The complex text:
What makes it complex:
The scaffolds for that specific difficulty:
How I keep the complexity:
How I build the needed background and vocabulary:

Make it stick

Scaffold, keep the challenge:

Scaffold complex text.
Keep the challenge.
Bring a complex text students accessed to the next PLC.

Common questions

Shouldn't struggling readers get easier texts?

Sometimes, for independent reading. But for instruction, replacing complex text with easy text denies the challenge students need to grow. Scaffold the hard text instead where possible.

What makes a text complex?

Vocabulary, sentence structure, the knowledge it assumes, and how it is organized. Knowing which of these is hard lets you scaffold the right thing.

How do I scaffold complex text?

Build the needed background and vocabulary, chunk it, provide a purpose, re-read, and discuss, so students access the complexity rather than avoid it.