Informational Text and the Common Core: A Content Analysis of Three Basal Reading Programs

The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS-ELA) will have a significant impact on what teachers teach and what primary students are supposed to be able to do (Bomer & Maloch, 2011). By the end of fourth grade, reading instruction should be evenly balanced between literary text and informational text (NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010b). The purpose of this quantitative content analysis study was to compare the percentage of informational text found in the three most widely purchased, commercially published fourth grade basal reading texts (Journeys published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt [2011], Treasures , published by MacMillan/McGraw-Hill, [2011], and Reading Street, published by Scott Foresman [2012]) with the informational text recommendations of the CCSS-ELA (NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010b). Coding of informational vs. literary text in these commercial textbooks followed Krippendorff's (1980) definitions and analytical framework which yielded percentage breakdown of informational text into the following subcategories: expository text, argumentative or persuasive text, and procedural text or documents. Results demonstrated that none of the three commercial texts met CCSS-ELA standards of informational text. The percentage of selections devoted to informational text ranged from 28%-33% (mean=31%) across publishers. The percentage of pages devoted to informational text ranged from 15%--18% (mean=16.6%) across publishers. A chi square goodness-of-fit test revealed a significant difference in the observed frequencies of informational text in the commercial texts and the expected frequencies of 50% derived from the CCSS-ELA standards (p-value less than alpha=0.05). The results indicated that the percentage of informational text found in the student text of the three most widely purchased fourth grade basal readers does not meet the informational text standard set for fourth grade by the CCSS-ELA (NGA Center and CCSSO, 2010b).