Topic 4 DQ 1 - SEC 540

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Grand Canyon University *

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540

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Communications

Date

May 10, 2024

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docx

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1

Uploaded by ElderCrowMaster914 on coursehero.com

Topic 4 DQ 1 What is meant by quantitative and qualitative measures in the evaluation of a text for a lesson? Define and provide examples. Evaluating a text is no easy task to do because it requires that students take into consideration quantitative and qualitative measures that vary in their influence on the structure, meaning, and definition of a given text or book. Shanahan (2013) offers a good definition of quantitative and qualitative measures of a text which are, “ Qualitative Measures: The qualitative measures of text complexity requires an informed judgment on the difficulty of the text by considering a range of factors. The Standards use purpose or levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, as well as the knowledge demands as measures of text difficulty/ Quantitative Measures: Quantitative measures of text complexity use factors such as sentence and word length and the frequency of unfamiliar words to calculate the difficulty of the text, assigning a single measure (grade level equivalent, number, Lexile etc). There are many formulas to calculate text difficulty and, while they provide a guide, the readability or difficulty level of a text can vary depending on which formulas or measures are used” (Shanahan, 2013). Some good examples of qualitative measures include: (1) text layout, (2) purpose and meaning, (3) text structure, (4) language features, and (5) knowledge demands. It is these qualitative measures that can provide valuable information when making decisions about the complexity of the text and how it can best be used with students. Today, most states have adopted the Common Core Standards which they themselves identify a range of factors that contribute to the overall complexity of the text. It is also very common for educators to use rubrics as a qualitative measure, a scoring system, to evaluate student performance systematically and validly. Examples of how quantitative measures also provide a useful guide in determining the complexity of a text, which can be accomplished by using: (1) ATOS for Text/ATOS for Books – both take into account three variables which are: word per sentence, average grade level of words, and characters per word, (2) Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) – measures three variables of a text which include word length, sentence length, and word familiarity, and (3) The Lexile Framework for Reading by MetaMetrics – a Lexile measures the complexity of a text, such as a book or an article, and an individual’s reading ability. These examples of analyzing a text quantitatively are useful for secondary level students due to the fact that they take into consideration only the most important variables for text structure, syntax, grammar, style, and etc. In conclusion, while evaluating any text that secondary level students use it is vital to take into account quantitative and qualitative measures that help educators better understand their purpose, effectiveness, and meaning. References: Shanahan, T. (2013). A Beginners Guide to Text Complexity. Retrieved from: https://www.generationready.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Beginners-Guide-to-Text- Complexity.pdf
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