MetaMetrics Webinar: Hidden Resources at Your Fingertips: How to Uncover Rich, Free Text Collections on any Topic at any Level

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© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Hidden Resources at Your Fingertips: How to Uncover Rich, Free Text Collections on any Topic at any Level October 9th, 2013

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Meet Your Presenters 2 Meredith Liben, Director of the Literacy and English Language Arts team at Student Achievement Partners Kathy Mansfield, Kentucky Department of Education's Library Media & Textbooks Consultant

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Logistics • Technical Support 866-229-3239 • Submit your questions to the Q&A Moderator, which can be selected from the drop-down menu in the Q&A panel. • When submitting your question, please include your full name and organization. 3

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Agenda • Overview & Introduction • The Goal & Challenge • The Lexile® Framework for Reading & Text Complexity • Finding & Utilizing Digital Content • Next Steps 4

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. “If we can dramatically increase high school graduation rates, if we can dramatically increase the number of graduates who are college and career ready, that’s what this is about. Everything’s a means to that end. That’s the Holy Grail here. Are our students being prepared to be successful?” -Arne Duncan Education Week, December 9, 2009 The Goal 5

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. The English Language Arts Standards: Key Changes (Shifts) 1) Text Complexity 2) Balance of fiction/non-fiction 3) Analysis, inference, and evidence 4) Mastery of writing and speaking 5) Academic Vocabulary Goal is College and Career Readiness 8

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies & Science Appendix A: Findings • Students who fall short of ACT's college readiness benchmarks have the greatest difficulty with the test items involving the most complex text. • K-12 reading assignments have become much less demanding in the last half-century, with an especially large drop-off in high school expectations. Weston, S. P. (2010). “The giant text complexity challenge inside the new literacy standards.” The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence 9

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies & Science Appendix A Findings • College reading assignments have moved in the opposite direction, becoming a bit harder over the same fifty years. • High school teachers commonly give students many kinds of support and coaching to help them figure out the material, but college teachers expect students to pull the knowledge from the text on their own, making the gap in practical ability even wider than the gap in the texts themselves. 10

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. The Lexile Framework for Reading • An educational tool that links text and readers under a common metric-a Lexile measure • Characterizes reader with a measure (used at the school level in all 50 states, and 21 states report Lexile measures statewide on their year-end assessments) and text with a measure (over 60,000 web sites, 170,000 fiction and nonfiction books and textbooks, and over 100 million articles) • Allows educators to forecast the level of comprehension a reader is likely to experience with a particular assessment or text • Staircase of text complexity in Common Core 12

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Content Aggregator and Catalog Automation Partners 13 Content Aggregator Partners • Periodicals Database Aggregators: – EBSCO Publishing – Gale, CENGAGE Learning – NewsBank – ProQuest • Web Content Aggregators: – Follett – Grolier Online – netTrekker Catalog Automation Partners • Alexandria Library Automation Software • Baker & Taylor • BiblioCommons • Book Systems • Follett Software • Ingram • Insignia Software • L4U Library Software • Library Corporations, The • Library Integrated Solution • Mackin • MARCIVE • MediaLog • Mitinet Library Services • OPALS • Surpass Software • OCLC: WorldCat

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Kentucky 16 Enid Wohlstein, KYVL Director [email protected] www.kyvl.org Open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, the Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL) is dedicated to supplying all Kentuckians with a comprehensive and dynamic collection of information resources. We strive for equitable access to quality library and information resources for all Kentuckians. We see ourselves as partners to Kentucky's educational institutions and are here to support information literacy and lifelong learning.

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. KYVL Usage Data for K-12 • 2011-12 K-12 schools –3,971,572 searches* • 2012-13 K-12 schools –4,199,844 searches* *searches within EBSCO, Grolier, and ProQuest online databases 17

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Standard description Level Standard KYVL resources Writing: Research to Build and Present Knowledge (for both ELA and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects) 6-12 W.6-12.8 & WHST.6-12.8 – Gather relevant information from multiple, authoritative sources (both print and digital); using effective search strategies; assess each source (for credibility, accuracy, strengths, limitations, usefulness in terms of the task or answering the research question); quote, paraphrase or integration information without plagiarizing; and follow a standard format for citation. KYVL database descriptions: http://www.kyvl.org/databases.shtm EBSCOhost: http://search.ebscohost.com ProQuest: http://search.proquest.com Searching tutorials: http://www.kyvl.org/tutorials.shtm EKU Noel Studio on evaluating information: http://studio.eku.edu/evaluate-information NKU’s Creative Thinking: http://creativethinking.nku.edu/ All KYVL databases include citation information. Language Standards 6-12 L.6-12.4c – Consult … reference materials, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation ...or determine or clarify meaning or its part of speech. The dictionaries in Grolier Online include pronunciation: 1. Go to http://go-middle.grolier.com or http://go-high.grolier.com 2. Click Dictionaries in lower right-hand corner. Student Research Center and EBSCOhost also include dictionaries. KYVL and the Kentucky Core Academic Standards Grades 6-12 KYVL Alignment with KCAS - grades K-5 http://www.kyvl.org/docs/Alignment_w_KCAS_K-5.pdf http://www.kyvl.org/docs/Alignment_w_KCAS_K-5.doc KYVL Alignment with KCAS - grades 6-12 http://www.kyvl.org/docs/Alignment_w_KCAS_6-12.pdf http://www.kyvl.org/docs/Alignment_w_KCAS_6-12.doc 20

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. School example 5th grade team, Shelby County, KY: “Our students are studying the Revolutionary War time period. We want students to analyze a primary source text, and the text needs to be toward the top end of the Lexile range for college and career readiness for our grade level.” 28 Supplemental Information for Appendix A of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy: New Research on Text Complexity

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Introducing Databases in Schools • Parents and Students – Explore databases such as “Amazing Animals of the World” (Grolier) and Kids Search (EBSCO) – Search for favorite topics – Complete scavenger hunt activities • Teachers – Locate “just right” articles for curriculum assignments – Explore NoveList Readers’ Advisory 35

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Why is this access to endless articles so critical with the Common Core Standards? Anchor Reading Standard Ten – in a category by itself: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity “Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.” 36

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Text complexity is necessary but not sufficient We need the “range” half of Standard Ten too Reading small amounts of complex texts closely and intensively is not enough by itself. • There has to be a range and volume of reading • Students have to be able to read it for themselves or with their peers. • The teacher can’t be omnipresent. 37

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity with various text structures and elements. By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, students build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. Students also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success. Note on range and content of student reading 38

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Q. How important are reading volume and range? A. Look how much attention the Standards pay to them! • Page 10 (anchor standards for reading), • All of page 33 (concerned with building knowledge systematically within and across grades), • Repeated again for the 6-12 standards on pages 35, • Repeated again for history and science/technology standards on page 60 • Appendix A: pages 2-10 (a quarter of the document) • All of Appendix B 39

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Q. How important are reading volume and range? • Informational text = richer academic vocabulary • Vocabulary and word awareness = a heavy emphasis of the CCSS • Volume of reading grows vocabulary • Vocabulary huge determinant of the achievement gap • Word knowledge = world knowledge • What do boys read? • More challenging text structures encountered with wide range • Reading is a very efficient path to learning • Reading independently is a vital life skill All of this leads to better outcomes for students who can achieve it. Must be exposed in order to achieve it! 40

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. You’ve accessed the article database; now what do you do with it? (1 of 4) • Articles can be connected to student interest and/or classroom content. • In both cases, they increase the amount of informational text available by a large, nearly unlimited, magnitude. 41

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. You’ve accessed the article database; now what do you do with it? (2 of 4) • Ability to link articles to classroom content and expand learning of that content for students. • This can potentially happen outside of class time (think “reserve room” reading). 42

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. You’ve accessed the article database; now what do you do with it? (3 of 4) • Develop “Gradated” text sets: – where the articles start below grade level (could be considerably below) and move upward until everyone is knowledgeable enough about the topic so they can independently read complex articles about the topic. 43

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. You’ve accessed the article database; now what do you do with it? (4 of 4) • Think about selecting for broad handling of a topic (general introductory material) to more and more specific. • In this way, students can build knowledge and read harder material more quickly because you’ve ramped up their background knowledge gradually. 44

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Conclusion • Your ability to access and navigate these article databases is a vital tool in your Common Core toolbox. • After you get comfortable, let your students loose in the databases! 45

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. Helpful Resources • Summary of Online Databases by State: http://cdn.lexile.com/m/cms_page_media/135/RTData_July_ 13.pdf • Boolean Tutorial: http://lib.colostate.edu/tutorials/boolean_info.html • “Quick and Easy Access to Measures of Text Complexity Using the Lexile® Framework for Reading” Paper by David Liben and Matt Copeland: http://cdn.lexile.com/m/cms_page_media/135/Quick%20and %20Easy%20Access%20to%20Measures%20of%20Text%20Co mplexity.pdf • CCSSO SCASS “Navigating Text Complexity” Resource: http://www.ccsso.org/Navigating_Text_Complexity.html 47

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. For a Deeper Dive… • Learn to navigate these important instructional resources by Lexile ranges • Utilize targeted database resources to expose students to higher levels of text complexity 47 Lexile Professional Development [email protected] 919-547-3412

© 2013 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved. For more information about Lexile measures, visit www.Lexile.com. For more information about MetaMetrics, visit www.MetaMetricsInc.com. MetaMetrics 1000 Park Forty Plaza Drive, Suite 120 Durham, North Carolina 27713 Phone: 919.547.3400 Toll Free: 1.888.LEXILES (539.4537) Email: [email protected] 49

MetaMetrics Webinar: Hidden Resources at Your Fingertips: How to Uncover Rich, Free Text Collections on any Topic at any Level

MetaMetrics Webinar: Hidden Resources at Your Fingertips: How to Uncover Rich, Free Text Collections on any Topic at any Level

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