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Early Release

This evaluator reflects early-stage work. We’re continuously improving its accuracy and reliability.
What you’ll see in the output is a list of complex words in the text (Tier 2, 3, archaic, and other complex words), the vocabulary complexity level based on the vocabulary rubric, as well as the evaluator’s reasoning for the complexity determination. For example, for a passage about climate and geography written for 3rd graders (CLEAR sample ID=1956), the evaluator might return: 
================  Complex words  ==========================


Tier 2 words: vary, factors, impact, local, features, major, determine, depend on
Tier 3 words: equator, climate, latitude, moisture, precipitation
Archaic words: None
Other complex words: None
================= Complexity Score ========================
moderately complex
================== Complexity Score Reasoning ==============
The vocabulary in this text is rated as moderately complex for a 3rd-grade student.


Density and Cumulative Effect: The text introduces a notable number of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words in a relatively short passage. Tier 2 words like vary, factors, impact, and determine are used to explain the core concepts. In addition, several key Tier 3 (domain-specific) words are central to the meaning: equator, climate, latitude, and precipitation. This density requires the student to process multiple new academic and scientific terms simultaneously.

Contextual Scaffolding: The text does an excellent job of scaffolding some of this new vocabulary, which prevents the complexity from being higher. For instance, latitude is immediately defined as "or distance from the equator." The abstract concept of "factors" is made concrete and accessible through a simple, conversational build-up ("Are they as big as a car? Think bigger... We are talking about mountains and oceans."). This support helps the student infer meaning.

Conceptual Load: Despite the scaffolding, the conceptual load is significant for a 3rd grader. The student must grasp the meanings of climate, equator, latitude, and precipitation all at once. While the student has some background knowledge, a word like precipitation is a specific scientific term that is not defined in the text and will likely cause a pause.

Conclusion: The vocabulary is not "slightly complex" because of the sheer number of new academic and domain-specific terms. However, it is not "very complex" because the strong scaffolding for key terms and the simple surrounding sentence structure ensure that the main ideas remain accessible. A 3rd grader will likely need to pause several times to process words like precipitation, vary, and determine, which aligns perfectly with the definition of "moderately complex."

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Output

There are three main components to the output:

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Complex Words

A list of words that may be considered complex for the associated grade and tier level.

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Complexity Score

The answer will be one of the complexities from SCASS Rubric:
  • slightly complex
  • moderately complex
  • very complex
  • exceedingly complex
Refer to the rubric for details about what the answer means. Also, take a look at the evaluator’s accuracy to see where the evaluator is most likely to make mistakes. Always use your judgment in interpreting the response.

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Complexity Score Reasoning

Use the reasoning to check that the answer makes sense in the context of the text’s intended use.

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How to use the information

This evaluation is related to the grade level you specified for the text. For example, if you provided a text to be evaluated for Grade 4, and the Evaluator determined the text to be “very complex”, this means the vocabulary complexity is in the very complex level for students reading at a Grade 4 level. See the SCASS rubric to interpret the complexity level. If you are working with text intended for multiple grade levels, you may want to run the evaluator a few times using different grade levels.

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Applying the answer

In general, the vocabulary complexity of texts should generally go up over the school year and from year to year. The complexity should be customized to the instructional needs of the educator. Is this an anchor text? Is the educator putting a particular focus on vocabulary with this text? Is the focus supposed to be on the syntax/sentence structure or something else?