Reviews the literature and research on readability. Examines early formulas that relied on sentence length and difficulty of vocabulary, the subsequent use of cloze procedure to measure text readability, and other factors now recognized as influences on the comprehensibility of a text. Concludes that readability formulas have not served education…

Argues the cloze procedure is the appropriate method of assessing the readability of business writing. Uses this procedure to determine the readability of a statement issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Finds one important GASB statement unreadable by college-level readers. (NH)

Computer programs were used to analyze the readability of 61 textbooks used in secondary trade and industrial education. The formulas proved relatively equal in identifying difficulty levels. High human interest scores seemed to correlate with lower-level texts. (SK)

This study was done to see if readability levels printed on recreational reading books were as accurate as when the Fry formula and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level were applied to them. Three descriptive passages from each of 60 recreational reading books were analyzed using the Fry formula and the Flesch-Kincaid formula. The data was compared to…

Describes Fry's Readability Graph for determing the variations in difficulty throughout textbooks. (RB)

A REVISION OF THE READABILITY GRAPH WITH DIRECTIONS FOR ITS USE AND VALIDTIY DATA ARE PRESENTED. THE USE OF THE GRAPH INVOLVES WORD SAMPLES, NUMBER OF SENTENCES, AND NUMBER OF SYLLABLES. THE LATTER TWO ARE PLOTTED ON A GRAPH TO ASCERTAIN GRADE LEVELS. THE CORRELATIONS OF THE READABILITY GRAPH WITH THE DALE-CHALL, FLESCH, AND SPACHE FORMULAS ARE…

Advocates using the cloze procedure and varying the criteria of success, according to the group, in order to determine the readability of instructional materials. (MKM)

Explores the use of microcomputers in readability calculation. (DF)

Determines from empirical information on the application of four readability formulas to a group of widely used college economics textbooks that there is no consistency in the absolute reading levels or the rank orderings of these books. (AEA)

Examines readability formulas and examples of their misuse. Analyzes an essay by George Orwell which was given a grade 10 readability level by one formula and discusses characteristics of Orwell's style that refute the accuracy of formula rating. (HTH)

Proposes modifying standard readability formulas, such as the Fry and Flesch, by determining which words in a given passage would be taught as vocabulary words. These words are given the value of one syllable. In examples using this method, the readability is reduced from eighth to fourth grade. (KC)

Attempts to determine whether the Raygor graph produces readability estimates compatible with estimates derived from the Fry graph, whether the Raygor graph is less time-consuming, and whether it lends itself to greater computational accuracy. (DD)

Examines the relationship of readability to usage of main idea clues in introductory texts in sociology and in English composition texts. Concludes that use of main idea clues provides a useful supplement to readability formulas in evaluating college textbooks. (SR)

Suggests that readability formulas are methodologically flawed and inappropriate measures of the readability of materials written for adults. Argues that the cloze procedure is preferable because it assesses the readability of material by its intended audience. Notes that possible users of the cloze procedure include school systems, government…