Three readability formulas are described, evaluated, and applied to selected textbook passages. However, the present state of the art indicates that, at best, teachers can gain only a very rough estimate of readability level from the existing diagnostic measures. (Author/NHM)

Two readability formulas were applied to two math and two reading series textbooks at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels to see whether the publishers' suggested reading levels were accurate. Five samples were taken from each text and compared to the publishers' suggested usage according to grade level. Results showed that although formulas…

The reading abilities of low achieving high school students at two schools were compared to the readability levels of the magazines in which they showed interest. The median tested reading ability of these students was reported as third/fourth grade by their reading teachers. The reading specialist at one high school reported that boys had an…

THE CHILD'S ABILITY TO PERCEIVE THE DIFFICULTY OF READING MATERIALS WAS ASSESSED. A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE OF 60 FIFTH GRADERS IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH A MEAN IQ OF 115 SERVED AS SUBJECTS. MATERIALS WERE 32 SHORT, GRADED READING SELECTIONS IN 8 INTEREST CATEGORIES AND A COMPREHENSION TEST. SELECTIONS WERE AT VARIOUS LEVELS OF READABILITY.…

Several studies on the use of the cloze procedure as a measure of readability and of comprehension are reviewed. These studies showed (1) that the cloze procedure proved a more reliable measure of readability for nonstandard reading materials than the commonly used readability formulas, (2) that cloze tests are valid and reliable predictors of the…

Horizontal readability, the analysis of essentially similar passages through classification of words and phrases according to their cognitive similarity, is discussed in relation to its usefulness in differentiating among materials designed for the same reading level. Three studies of horizontal readability in which passages were rated for high…

The author's style of writing has implications for the ease with which the written material can be read. Using the Flesch Reading Ease Formula, the mean readability score, the standard deviation, and range are given for 50 parenting books. Discussion suggests how the list might be used by parent educators. (Author)

A survey conducted individually with 50 retired adult readers (10 males and 40 females), who are middle or upper-middle class former professionals, was made in central New Jersey to determine their reading choices and to compare personal factors of sex, physical condition, and social activity with the number of books read in a six month period. Of…

A discussion of how a Briton's educational level, social class, sex and age all go to determine the degree of linguistic difficulty he finds acceptable in reading matter; and how these determinants of acceptability relate to readability as measured by word and sentence lengths. (Author)

Teachers can match content reading materials with student needs and abilities in a number of ways. If textbooks are the main or only source, teachers can group students according to textbook difficulty, conduct student surveys of specific topics in the textbook, and use the textbook as a sampler or starting point for more in-depth studies of…

Ten easy-to-read books were examined for readability using Fry's Readability Graph and Betts' criteria for oral reading performance. Five first-grade and second-grade children read selected passages from each of the ten books. A correlation of 0.73 was obtained between rank orders according to readability graph scores and according to oral reading…

THE READABILITY OF ANY BOOK IS DETERMINED BY WORDS AND SENTENCES WHICH ARE USED AND WHICH VARY IN DIFFICULTY FROM EASY TO HARD. PRESENTED HERE IS A PROCEDURE BY WHICH TEACHERS CAN DETERMINE THE READABILITY INDEX OF ANY BOOK AND TRANSLATE THE INDEX TO GRADE LEVELS. THE METHODS EMPLOYED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF READABILITY FORMULAS AND WORD LISTS ARE…

To determine whether experienced reading teachers are better able than individuals with little training and teaching experience to make judgments about the difficulty level of learning materials and to discover if they differ in evaluating criteria for making such judgments, a study was conducted involving 100 subjects. The subjects were placed…

Textual Analysis of Language Samples (TEXAN) is a computer program which can count a number of variables needed for use in readability formulas. Three studies which utilize TEXAN are reported in this paper: (1) In 1972, Norman and Helen Felsenthal randomly selected 20 books from the 1306 in Eakin's "Good Books for Children" and calculated their…

Raises questions about the readability criteria used by publishers and editors of reading textbooks in selecting and assembling materials for middle grade reading texts. (RL)