Readability formulas may detract from textbook quality. They overlook text and reader characteristics that affect comprehension. Moreover, average "readability levels" ignore wide variations within texts and between scales. The shortened sentences and simplified vocabulary used to conform texts to formulas sacrifice precision and connectedness,…

This book addresses the task of matching books to students' reading levels, or book leveling. It assists teachers in making informed choices about appropriate leveling systems, recommends which books can be used in instruction, and suggests how book text level and student reading abilities may correspond. The book will help classroom teachers and…

Provides step-by-step procedures for developing an index which uses the Gunning Fog technique to evaluate the level of reading difficulty of textbooks. Cites examples, illustrations, and several warnings in the discussion. (RT)

Waukesha County Technical College (Wisconsin) received the Governmental Financial Officers Association "Popular Annual Financial Reporting Award" in 1993 and became the first educational entity to do so. Popular annual financial reporting is an effective way for schools to present reader-friendly reports that stress graphics and…

Principals who make the decision and investment to produce a school newsletter should follow these guidelines to obtain an informative and attractive product. The first step is to define the purpose of the newsletter, then determine the target audience--probably parents--and write the newsletter with them in mind. Next, decide what the newsletter…

Drawn from the experience of various ministries and departments in governments across Canada, this guide is meant to be a practical guide in implementing plain language for managers in the Ontario (Canada) government. The guide describes how to use plain language in planning, writing, designing, and editing forms and documents, and how to set up…

Evaluated and compared 12 science textbooks with respect to their readability levels and agreement with the intended reader level. Four of the books were determined to be unsatisfactory for their intended grade levels. (20 references) (MDH)

Examines the reading level and potential comprehension level of 10 fourth-grade science textbooks. Reports that there is a great deal of variability between and within the science texts. (YP)

Ten ways to improve college annual fund letter campaigns include integration into a comprehensive communication plan, building long-term donor relationships, framing the case in donors' terms, creating an inviting envelope, getting names and honorifics correct, readability, providing supporting material that involves the potential donor, making a…

This guide to producing a readable, appealing, and interesting school newsletter is intended for teachers, administrators, and secretaries who might be intimidated and overwhelmed by the task of newsletter production. The guide will help school professionals write, design, and produce a school newsletter that will reach today's busy and…

Discusses the applicability of research into cognitive schemas, metacognition, instructional design, and learning strategies to textbook creation; the value of well-structured, coherent, and focused texts; readability formulas, narrative characteristics, science and social studies texts, glossaries, dictionaries, teachers' manuals, and practice…

This basal reading series cross-reference guide can help educators (1) place students transfering from another basal program; (2) select appropriate enrichment basal programs to satisfy school district policies; (3) identify and select reinforcement skill exercises from other basal programs; (4) identify basal reading materials with similar skills…

Advice is offered on making the college or university fact book readable and appealing. Issues discussed include: choice of hardware and software for desktop publishing, balance, layout, use of graphics, typefaces and styles, text alignment, and format. Lists of resources, associations, seminars, and publications that may be useful are appended.…

Noting that the proliferation of computers in the schools requires teachers to know the best ways to use them, this book shows how the computer can be used in a reading and language arts curriculum as tool, tutor, and tutee with currently available software. Chapter one defines the reading process in terms of its relationship to background…