Noting that the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) has been involved in research on reading assessment in the Army from both practical and theoretical perspectives, this paper addresses practical Army problems in reading assessment from a theory base that reflects the most recent and most sound…

This report describes how to apply techniques that have been used in measuring the readability/comprehensibility and reading level of textural materials. A review of available readability/comprehensibility measurement techniques and of previous experimental studies into methods for developing such techniques is presented. As a result of this…

This anthology, prepared by adapting existing material, contains a synoptic review of the Human Resources Research Organization research program on literacy in relation to job performance. In several of the chapters, the adaptations include the addition of new material to integrate and interpret the findings from the various phases of the research…

This paper addresses practical Army problems in reading assessment from a theory base reflecting the most recent research on reading comprehension. Military and occupational research shows that reading proficiency is related to job performance. Reading assessment is a key issue in the Army due to changes in the reading ability levels of the Army…

A previous report defined a series of 14 novel measures for determining the comprehensibility of English text on the basis of current psycholinguistic and Structure-of-Intellect concepts. That report not only suggested the potential usefulness of the measures but also conjectured about the feasibility of automating the calculation of these…

This literature review documents the state-of-the-art of readability assessment and indicates directions for future research in readability measurement. The period since 1953 is emphasized, although there is some consideration of earlier work. Primary emphasis within the review is based on readability measurement; however, a final section is…

A letter from Thomas Sticht, written while conducting research for the United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, compares the learning situations of classrooms in schools and in battalions. (MKM)

Concern about the discrepancy between the reading ability of naval personnel and the level of reading material they must deal with in a naval career prompted the study summarized in this report. Focusing on literacy standards and on meeting the standards of reading difficulty and reading ability, the report discusses short-range research and…

Having implemented a testing procedure using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests to identify recruits with reading deficiencies, the United States Navy conducted a study comparing the performance of recruits on three different reading tests. A total of 716 recruits completed the comprehension portion of the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, the Tests…

The Conference on Reading and Readability Research in the Armed Services brought together reading, technical writing, and readability experts from civilian research and development (R & D) centers with R & D specialists from the armed services for discussion of reading and text-design problems in the military. This report of the proceedings…