Comprehension teachers can name decoding. They can name meaning. CSAF names what comes next: what the words are doing to the reader. Ten language-based signals across three observable categories, taught and assessed the same way every time.
Decoding can be taught. Meaning can be taught. Comprehension at the construction level — what the words are doing to the reader — has not been, because there has not been a vocabulary for it. CSAF is that vocabulary.
Three observable categories. Ten language signals. Six recurring patterns. Taught the same way every time, in any classroom or library, by any educator.
Either the pattern is present or it isn't.
That is what makes reading comprehension at this level teachable, consistent across classrooms, and measurable with pre/post assessment.
Read the full framework — three categories, ten signals, six patterns →
Every signal is grounded in language patterns: word choice, sourcing structure, framing decisions. Readers identify patterns, not opinions. The framework removes "I think it's biased" from the conversation and replaces it with "here's what I observe."
CSAF maps to AASL, ISTE, ACRL, and UNESCO MIL frameworks — and is built to support the news, media, and information literacy mandates now in effect or under consideration in 11+ U.S. states. It works alongside the curriculum you already teach — not as a replacement, but as a shared analytical foundation.
The Knowledge Lens quiz measures framework comprehension before and after instruction. Pattern recognition, signal identification, and analytical reasoning. Built so educators can show learning gains in observable skills, not self-reported confidence.
Students use Clear-Sight independently on real articles — not worksheets, not hypotheticals. The sidebar delivers the full framework analysis as they read, turning every article into a lesson plan you didn't have to build.
CSAF builds on a decade of work defining what news literacy is — and what makes it teachable. Our framework operationalizes that research into an observable, classroom-ready instrument.
News literacy is the foundational gateway literacy — the skill that determines whether learners can engage critically with media, digital, and AI content downstream.
How CSAF builds on it: Our framework treats news as the most structured, observable form of persuasive media — and the natural starting point for skill transfer.
84% of teens distrust the news. 80% are inclined to believe online conspiracy theories. More teens think reporters are skilled at lying than informing.
How CSAF responds: Trust gaps don't close through telling students what to believe. They close by teaching students how to observe what an article is doing.
News literacy must be taught as the discipline of judging the reliability and credibility of information — distinct from media literacy, distinct from digital literacy.
Where CSAF extends it: We reframe news literacy from a judgment skill ("is this credible?") to an observation skill ("what is this article doing?") — the methodological shift that makes it consistently teachable.
Media and information literacy is the set of competencies that empowers people to engage with information and media content critically, ethically, and effectively.
Standards alignment: CSAF's ten signals map directly to UNESCO MIL competencies, AASL learner standards, ISTE digital citizenship, and ACRL information literacy frames.
30 to 40 percent of fourth graders do not develop adequate reading comprehension.
How CSAF responds: They can decode the words. They just can't see what the words are doing. CSAF gives readers and educators a structured vocabulary for the comprehension layer that has not yet been named.
Read the detailed methodology paper: News Literacy as Observation, Not Judgment →
A teachable framework is only useful if educators have the materials to put it in front of students tomorrow. Clear-Sight ships three deliverables that turn CSAF into instruction.
A complete CSAF curriculum that scaffolds the three categories and ten signals into sequenced units. Designed to drop into existing ELA, media studies, journalism, library instruction, and first-year writing courses.
Grade-band lesson plans that meet readers where they are. Same framework, language calibrated to developmental stage, with discussion prompts and worked examples on real articles.
The Chrome/Edge extension that runs the full framework on any article students or instructors are reading. Every metric, in action, on live news — not worksheets, not hypotheticals.
Curriculum & teaching guides are part of an institutional pilot. The 30-day free demo gives you full access to the news analysis tool.
Clear-Sight is an AI tool. But it was never designed to replace the educator. It was designed to give educators, librarians, and media literacy professionals a structured, teachable framework they can make their own — and the resources to teach it well.
Same framework. Same vocabulary. Language and example articles calibrated to where readers actually are. The library starts at the elementary level because that is where the comprehension layer begins to matter, and grows from there.
Structured guides for each of the ten metrics — what to teach, how to teach it, discussion prompts, and example articles. Designed so that any educator can walk into a classroom and deliver the framework with confidence.
Each of the six patterns becomes a teachable unit — with real articles, scoring walkthroughs, and guided exercises. Students learn to recognize the patterns before they know what they are called.
For librarians, workshop leaders, and community educators — guides on how to introduce Clear-Sight in non-classroom settings. How to run a group analysis session. How to handle skepticism. How to become the local expert that people come to with questions.
Pre/post frameworks for measuring student progress — tied directly to the metrics and patterns. Built so that educators can demonstrate impact, track growth, and show that the skill is being learned, not just consumed.
AI surfaces the analysis. But the educator is the one who makes it stick — who turns a score into a conversation, a pattern into a lesson, and a tool into a skill that lasts. The guide library is shipping now and growing with the framework.
The Chrome/Edge extension delivers the full framework on any article students are reading. Every signal, every score, every piece of evidence — visible in the sidebar as they read.
Students see what the article is doing before they form an opinion about what it says — the framing choices, the language patterns, the structural decisions, all explained in plain language with evidence pulled from the text.
A pre/post comprehension assessment built around the framework itself. Students take it before instruction and again after. The comparison view shows where their pattern recognition actually moved — observable signal identification, not self-reported confidence.
Pattern recognition tasks tied to specific framework signals — not vocabulary recall, not credibility judgment.
Each student's performance broken down across the ten framework signals — surfacing the patterns they read well and the ones they need more practice with.
Side-by-side gains in observable comprehension. The artifact you bring to a department meeting, a parent night, or an institutional review.
CSAF is a reading comprehension framework. News is the most visible application, because news is where the construction patterns are most observable at scale. But the skill the framework teaches generalizes wherever language is working hard.
Readers learn to see how news articles are constructed: emotional activation, sourcing gaps, framing choices, push-factor language. The patterns are present in every news article, which makes it the ideal worked example for the framework.
Emotional activation, persuasive framing, and selective sourcing are not unique to news. Readers who can name these patterns in a news article carry the skill into advertising, political messaging, and entertainment.
The same construction patterns appear in social media posts, viral threads, and algorithmically surfaced content. The vocabulary transfers because the techniques are the same.
AI-generated content tends to exhibit a specific construction pattern, high surface credibility paired with low depth. CSAF makes that pattern nameable. Readers can identify the difference between authoritative-sounding output and substantively complete reporting.
One framework. One vocabulary. Skills readers carry from your classroom or library to every screen they see.
The full product, with limited credits — so you can decide if it fits your course, library program, or section before involving procurement.
When you're ready to scale beyond a single course or library session — volume seats, custom rollout, and direct support.
Pricing: 30-day demo is fully featured with no credit card required. After the demo, individual educators can upgrade or roll into an institutional license. Institutional pricing is per-seat and scales with headcount — typical deployments range from a single section to a full district. Get a quote →
For journalism, communication, English, and education programs. CSAF maps cleanly to course outcomes, gives professors a consistent assessment instrument across sections, and gives students a framework they carry into every media environment they encounter.
Request Campus AccessAligned to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy. A teachable instrument for one-shot instruction, embedded library sessions, reference support, and adult patron programs. Gives librarians a shared method beyond "check the source," including a structured way to answer the bias question readers are increasingly asking.
Request Library AccessBuilt for the 11+ U.S. states with active K-12 media literacy mandates. Aligned to digital citizenship, digital wellness, and emerging reading comprehension standards. Simple enough for independent reader use, substantive enough to anchor a full unit.
Bring to Your SchoolA language-based news literacy framework that extends your existing programs, gives your community a shared analytical practice grounded in observable patterns, and puts measurement in the hands of every learner you serve.
Explore PartnershipStart with a free 30-day demo. No credit card required. The demo is the full product — every feature unlocked — with a credit cap of 10 article analyses and 4 Ask Clear-Sight questions. Enough to evaluate the framework with a real class or section before involving procurement.
Institutional pricing is per-seat and scales with headcount. A single high-school section, a department, a campus, and a full district are all common deployment sizes. Pricing depends on volume, deployment requirements, and PD scope. Request a quote.
Yes. The Clear-Sight extension requires a login to use — this is how usage is attributed, Knowledge Lens scores are tracked, and institutional seats are managed.
For individual educators and students on the 30-day demo: quick email-based sign-up via the sign-up page. No PII beyond the account email.
For institutional deployments: SSO (Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra) and roster-based provisioning (Clever, ClassLink) are not available out of the box today, but we'll explore the integration with you as part of an institutional engagement. Let us know your environment when you request access.
Clear-Sight is built for institutional environments. We collect no learner or patron PII beyond the account email, store no article content beyond what's needed to render the analysis, and process all extension activity over encrypted connections.
For higher ed and academic libraries: FERPA-compliant by design (no education records collected). Accessibility — we test against WCAG 2.1 AA and provide a VPAT on request. The ALA Library Bill of Rights and the patron-confidentiality posture libraries expect are honored: no patron-identifying logs, no targeting based on what someone reads.
For K-12: COPPA and state-specific data-privacy agreements (NY Ed Law 2-d, CSDPA, SOPIPA, etc.) signed as part of procurement review. Data Privacy Impact Statement and our security questionnaire responses available on request.
CSAF maps directly to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy — specifically the frames around Authority Is Constructed and Contextual, Information Creation as a Process, and Information Has Value. The ten signals give librarians a concrete instrument to use during a one-shot session, an embedded course module, a research consultation, or an adult patron program.
Common deployment patterns we see: academic libraries embedding it in first-year writing, communication, and research methods courses; public libraries running adult patron workshops or making it available as a research-room tool; library systems licensing it across branches as part of digital and information literacy outreach.
Chrome and Edge on desktop and Chromebook. The extension installs from the Chrome Web Store; institutional deployments can push it via Google Admin Console / Microsoft Intune for managed devices.
Works through standard school content filters. Compatible with most LMS environments — Clear-Sight is the analysis layer, not the LMS.
Individual educator: 5 minutes (install extension, sign in, start analyzing).
School / department pilot: typically 1–2 weeks — primarily IT review and managed extension deployment.
District / campus rollout: 2–6 weeks depending on procurement timeline, security review, and PD scope.
Not out of the box today — but we can explore it with you upon request. If SSO (Google Workspace, Microsoft Entra) or rostering (Clever, ClassLink) is a requirement for your deployment, tell us when you request institutional access and we'll scope the integration as part of your engagement.
Framework documentation and starter teaching notes are included with every plan. Institutional customers receive structured PD options — typically a one-hour onboarding plus an asynchronous self-paced track for additional faculty. Custom workshops, including alignment-mapping sessions for AASL / ISTE / ACRL outcomes, are available for districts and higher-ed deployments.
Most bias tools rate outlets on a political scale. CSAF does something different. We do not classify outlets by lean and we do not tell readers what to think. We look at the words on the page. The framework groups its ten signals into three categories: words that move the reader, words that inform the reader, and words that frame the story. Each one leaves an observable trail. A reader who knows what to look for can see how an article is constructed and decide for themselves what to do with it. That is a more useful skill than knowing where a publication sits on someone else's chart.
Most existing news literacy curricula teach judgment ("is this article credible?"). CSAF teaches observation ("what is this article doing?"). Every signal is grounded in observable language patterns: word choice, sourcing structure, framing decisions. Readers identify whether the pattern is present, not whether the outlet should be trusted. That methodological shift is what makes the skill consistently teachable across classrooms, measurable across cohorts, and transferable to media, digital, and AI content. CSAF sits one layer deeper than existing curricula. It is a reading comprehension framework, with news as the most visible application. Read the methodology →
Whether you're piloting it in a single section, rolling it out across a library system, or scoping a district-wide adoption — we welcome the conversation. Start where it makes sense for you.
Chrome & Edge browser extension. Works in institutionally-managed environments. Login required — SSO and rostering explored upon request for institutional deployments. Privacy policy