DOES A TAXI DRIVER NEED TO READ
AT THE SAME LEVEL AS A LAWYER?
TEXT COMPLEXITY OF
CAREER READING MATERIALS
It seems intuitive that more demanding jobs
require higher levels of reading skill. For
example, a lawyer must know not only how
to read and understand complex legal texts,
but also derive meaning from uncommon
words, often with Latin roots. In contrast,
jobs that do not require a college degree—
such as waiters or cab drivers—might
not require such intensive reading skills.
Nonetheless, all 50 states have adopted
college- and career-readiness standards
which require all students to meet rigorous
literacy expectations regardless of their
career goals.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate
texts used by professionals in a variety of
careers and address the following research
questions:
1.Do career texts require at least
college- and career-ready level of
reading proficiency?
2.Does the complexity level of
career texts vary with the level
of education and preparation
needed for the career?
THE STUDY
We analyzed the complexity of three texts from each of 50
different careers using the Pearson Reading Maturity Metric
(RMM; available at www.readingmaturity.com). We selected
10 careers from each of the five job zones in the Occupational
Information Network (O*NET) online database, developed
by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training
Administration. Each of the O*NET job zones requires
progressively more demanding sets of knowledge, skills,
abilities, and preparation.
ZONE
TYPICAL REQUIREMENTS
Zone 1
Little or No
Preparation
Needed
A high school diploma or GED
for some occupations with a few
days or months of training from an
experienced worker.
Zone 2
Some Preparation
Needed
A high school diploma and training of a
few months or a year from recognized
apprenticeship programs.
Zone 3
Medium
Preparation
Needed
Vocational school education with
1-2 years of training from experienced
workers or recognized apprenticeship
programs.
Zone 4
Considerable
Preparation
Needed
Four-year bachelor’s degree and several
years of on-the-job
training and/or vocational training.
Zone 5
Extensive
Preparation
Needed
Master’s degree and more than five years
of experience.
RESULTS
•Average text complexity
Complexity Level of 150 Texts by Job Zone
demands for all 50 careers
were at least at a collegeand career-ready level,
regardless of education
preparation requirements
(although some individual
texts fell below this level).
15
Text Complexity Level
14
•Average text complexity
level increased as job zone
and level of preparation
increased.
•Texts for Zone 1 careers
showed the greatest variation
in text complexity, with some
Zone 1 texts as complex as
texts from Zone 5 careers.
13
Taxi Driver
Lawyer
Taxi Driver
Lawyer
Taxi Driver
12
11
College & Career Ready
Text Complexity Level
10
9
8
7
0
1
2
3
4
5
Job Zone
IMPLICATIONS
•Students must build their reading skills throughout K-12 schooling to be prepared for all types of
postsecondary employment. Jobs that require no formal schooling beyond high school still involve
comprehension of texts at the level that should be presented at the end of high school.
•Many career texts are written at a text complexity level appropriate for high school students.
Teachers can contribute to college and career preparedness and expose students to a diversity of
postsecondary opportunities by incorporating workforce texts into high school curriculum.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Hua Wei, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Ashley Cromwell
Director of School
Operations at Life
Academy
Katie McClarty, Ph.D.
Head, Center for
College & Career Success
KIPP: New Jersey
The Center for College & Career Success and its researchers work to identify and measure the skills
needed to be successful in college and careers, determine pathways for students to be ready, track
progress along the pathway, and evaluate effective ways to keep students on track.
The full report will be published in the Journal of Education Research:
Wei, H., Cromwell, A. M., & McClarty, K. L. (in press). Career readiness: An analysis of text
complexity for occupational reading materials. Journal of Education Research.
researchnetwork.pearson.com