A four-factor approach to estimating the readability of content area texts for learning disabled students focuses on vocabulary, syntax, density, and format. (CL)

Presents guidelines for use in examining the comprehensibility of a textbook, questions to ask about the book, and suggestions for using the guide questions. (FL)

Designed to assess the cognitive requirement expected or implied in beginning reading materials and in their instructional suggestions and to determine whether these materials are appropriate to the cognitive development of the children who will use them, this instrument is for use by evaluators with the first reader in a basal series. It directs…

Elementary and secondary social studies teachers are first asked to rate their classroom textbooks concerning readability, interest level, quality and quantity of illustrations, clarity, and organization. Techniques that they can use to enrich each of these areas are then presented. (RM)

Discusses factors that psychology professors should consider when selecting a textbook for introductory courses. These include readability, human interest level, comprehensiveness, and authoritative accuracy of the material. (RM)

Suggests that social studies teachers use cloze procedure to determine the reading level of materials they use in the classroom. The method consists of excerpting a 300-word passage from the intended text and deleting every fifth word. Students fill in words through attention to context. (Author/KC)

Provides a checklist that considers "learnability" factors as well as "understandability" factors to use as an alternative to readability formulas. (MKM)

Describes how to use a readability graph to determine the reading level of Biology textbooks. (MA)

Noting that readability formulas are strictly text-based and therefore do not reflect the interactive nature of the reading process, this paper argues that many of the instructional material evaluations for which such formulas are used are inappropriate and offers more reader-based alternatives to the use of formulas. The first half of the paper…

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)

Discusses the evaluations of U.S. history textbooks conducted by People for the American Way. Concludes that the higher-rated textbooks are useful only for college-bound students and the lower-ranked textbooks seem to be aimed at children with reading difficulties, thus pointing out some of the problems facing selection committees. (KO)

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)

Three main factors in textbook selection for distance education--readability, appropriateness, and availability--are examined in detail, and suggestions for adapting standardized texts to the needs of individual groups are provided. Twelve specific criteria are listed for determining the appropriateness of a text and textual factors influencing…

Answers questions most frequently asked about the cloze procedure; suggests using cloze exercises to gauge the suitability of reading materials, showing how the technique taps meaning derived from text and indexes both textual reading difficulty and students' comprehension ability. (AEA)

Proposing two major shifts in how to involve low readers more effectively in textbook learning, this book suggests that students, even those with low reading skills, can learn to use mainstream textbooks, and that textbooks can be designed to make them more usable for all students. The book presents a series of instructional techniques that…