Discussion of the notion of readability focuses on predicting readability with computerized readability formulas. Semantic and syntactic factors are discussed, the development of readability formulas is described, and five commercially available computer readability formulas are reviewed, including the Readability Estimator, Readability Formulas,…

A method proposed by McCuaig and Hutchings to assess the internal readability variation of books using the Fry readability formula was empirically tested in an analysis of six elementary basal and ten secondary remedial readers. Each book was treated as a series of consecutive 100-word samples. Means and standard deviations were computed for both…

The purposes of this study were to assess the usefulness of a variety of readability formulas in predicting the relative difficulty of passages, and to explore the contribution of pupils' background to text difficulty. Subjects were 285 special education students in grades 1-9, 117 of whom were based in rural and suburban Minnesota (MN) and 168 of…

Four readability indices that focus on the ease of comprehension of printed material are applied to industrial education textbooks for senior high school students. Grade reading levels by subject areas for the four indices are presented in tables, charts, and text. Certain conclusions about the readability techniques studied are suggested. (MF)