The passage comprehensibility of three diagnostic reading tests--the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, the Spache Diagnostic Reading Scales, and the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty--was evaluated using the following text variables: content familiarity, vocabulary, the number of idea units in the text, the number of text-based inferences…

Reports on a study that examined the readability of a selection of C. S. E. papers taken from six subject areas. Found that, with the exception of that given in history, the exams did not make excessive demands on the candidates' reading skills. (FL)

Lists the dangers of readability formulas and concludes that while they may be a necessary evil, they should not be used as the underlying structure of a reading program. (FL)

Confirms that in cloze testing, it is unnecessary to use standard size spaces and reveals a high correlation between synonymic scoring and verbatim scoring. Indicates also that a specific probability concepts test is comprehensible and readable by the great majority of students for whom it was devised. (FL)

Considers three issues related to the conduct of research into reading problems of the elderly: (1) the lack of federal funding of literacy research concerning the elderly, (2) differences between conducting research with school-aged populations and with the elderly, and (3) problems encountered in testing elderly individuals. (GT)

An experiment investigated the effects of the instruction rubric at the beginning of an examination paper and of the format of the examination questions themselves. A history test whose questions originally differed widely in format was modified so that its rubric was as clear and concise as possible and all the short answer questions were of the…