This evaluator gives developers fine-grained vocabulary insights that help ensure texts use words that align with grade-level expectations and support growth in academic language. It:
Estimates the background knowledge a student at the target grade level is likely to have.
Identifies complex words in the text (, , , and other complex words). Evaluates overall vocabulary complexity relative to that background knowledge estimate.
This evaluator returns one of the following ratings, along with a list of complex words and reasoning for you to use to determine your best course of action. Complexity ratings are relative to the target grade level you provide.
Rating
Meaning
Slightly complex
The text uses everyday, familiar vocabulary with few academic or domain-specific terms.
Moderately complex
The text includes a mix of familiar and academic vocabulary, with some Tier 2 or Tier 3 terms that may require support.
Very complex
The text relies heavily on Tier 2 and Tier 3 vocabulary with limited contextual scaffolding.
Exceedingly complex
The text uses dense academic and domain-specific vocabulary that is likely to be inaccessible without significant support.
Overall, vocabulary is easy to understand and does not impede comprehension of the bulk of the text (including main idea and supporting claims). 1-2 quick pauses for processing by the student are ok here.
Overall, vocabulary generally allows students to comprehend the bulk of the text with little difficulty, though there may be occasional pauses for clarification. Several quick pauses or occasional prolonged pauses may occur.
Overall, vocabulary often presents challenges that may slow down comprehension, but does not completely block the comprehension of the bulk of the text.
Overall, vocabulary is so complex that it makes comprehension of the bulk of the text very challenging and requires careful effort to interpret.
This evaluator is provided as Early access. Comprehensive accuracy measures
are not yet available. Validation testing is ongoing.
Accuracy has been most extensively validated on Grades 3–4. We assessed performance against an expert-annotated dataset of 580+ texts. For more information, see Accuracy.
