In holistic assessments, the texts used should be...

In holistic assessments, using both familiar and unfamiliar texts, with unfamiliar texts being at grade level, is essential for evaluating a student's comprehensive understanding and reading skills. Familiar texts help students feel comfortable and confident, allowing them to demonstrate their existing knowledge and abilities. Meanwhile, including unfamiliar texts at an appropriate grade level challenges them to engage with new concepts and vocabulary, assessing their ability to comprehend, infer, and analyze information in various contexts. This balanced approach offers a clearer picture of a student's reading proficiency by determining how well they can apply their skills to both known and new material.

In contrast, using texts that are completely unfamiliar may hinder a student's performance as they lack the background knowledge or context, thereby skewing the assessment results. Similarly, relying solely on lower-grade level texts would not adequately challenge the students, making it difficult to assess their true capabilities. Texts phrased in complex academic language could also obscure a student’s understanding if they do not have a strong grasp of the language nuances, potentially leading to unrepresentative assessment outcomes. Therefore, the correct approach incorporates a mix of familiar and level-appropriate unfamiliar texts for a comprehensive assessment of a student's abilities.