This paper describes the Harris-Jacobson Readability Formula A, a revision of a readability formula based on word lists from "Basic Elementary Reading Vocabularies." Section one of the paper discusses procedures for using the formula, including the selection of samples, scoring the variables, and applying the formula. The next section…

Concludes that test results are essentially the same for both the Flesch and Gunning reading indices. (RB)

Takes issue with E. Fry's widely accepted claim that the average readability of a book is ascertainable on the basis of only three samples; reports that numerous samples were needed to estimate readability means of 36 basal workbooks. (MKM)

This study examined the McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading to determine whether selections of passages covered a sufficiently wide range of difficulty to warrant their use in developing readability formulas. The results, which find several readability formulas suspect, are discussed. (Author/MT)

Noting that research indicating Newbery Medal books are not popular with elementary students in spite of their unquestioned superiority in plot, characterization, and style, a study examined the readability level of Newbery Medal winners from 1974 to 1986. Three readability formulas were used to assess readability: Gunning's Fog Index, Fry…

Edward Fry's Graph for Estimating Readability (Extended) was used to determine the approximate readability levels of books within the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and "Little House" series. The findings indicated that the levels of readability did not remain the same throughout each series, with the Nancy Drew series ranging in reading levels from…

Describes a study using the Fry Readability Graph to determine the parameter values for average readability and the range of readability of basal readers. (JM)

The Fry Readability Formula was used to investigate the readability levels of stories contained in basal readers of the 1979 edition of the "Open Court" series for grades one through six. The average readability levels of the stories were then compared to those found in the 1976 edition of the same series. The purposes of the study were…

This paper summarizes the work to date on the revised Harris-Jacobson Readability Formulas. The contents include "The Criterion," which discusses the criterion used in the development of the formulas; "Variables Employed," which includes percent of uncommon words, average sentence length, percent of long words, mean number of letters per word, and…

Reports two investigations, one related to the readability of certain basal readers and the other related to teacher knowledge of varying levels of readability of textbooks.

Acknowledging widely recognized shortcomings of readability formulas, the authors propose a technique for analyzing syntactic complexity. (RB)

Readability formulas estimate how difficult text is to read. The resulting "readability level" helps teachers and school librarians match students to appropriate books. Guiding students to appropriate-level books is now easier and more accurate with the ATOS (Advantage-TASA Open Standard) Readability Formula for Books, the new…

Reveals that the Rauding Scale of Prose Difficulty provides results closer to Spache and Dale-Chall values than does the Singer Eyeball Estimate of Readability (SEER) technique. (FL)

In the past 30 or 40 years there has been much discussion about what factors contribute to readability in texts. In an attempt to characterize factors not measurable by current objective readability formulas, four texts that were adapted for younger readers were compared with their originals to see what kinds of changes adaptors had made and to…

The development of a readability formula designed to determine the readability level of German instructional materials at the elementary level is discussed in this paper. The readability formula which was developed is called the German Readability Graph and is similar to the Fry Readability Graph. Syllables and number of sentences are counted per…