McLaughlin's Smog Index was compared to the Dale-Chall formula for the determination of reading levels of 48 textbooks in business and distributive education. A Modified Smog Index proved a valid substitute for the Dale-Chall formula when used to evaluate the reading levels of business and distributive education narrative. (Author/CT)

Discusses the definition of readability, the history of readability formulas, writing adult materials to a desired readability level, matching readability levels of material to the reader's skill level, and uses of these concepts in adult education. (CT)

Supports the results of a previous study that concluded that the Farr-Jenkins-Paterson formula resulted in a more difficult readability level than the Flesch Reading Ease formula, the Dale-Chall Readability formula, and the Fry Readability Graph, and that the Fry Readability Graph is accurate within one grade level. (MS)

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)

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,…

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…

A study examined basal readers and trade books in terms of reading ease as estimated by readability formulas and the incidence of figurative language. Based on an earlier study, the study had three major goals: to (1) assess and compare two reading series ("A" and "B") at each of two grade levels; (2) assess and compare…

The utility and precision of scaling 200 relatively short reading passages were analyzed using a Rasch-based measurement technique as compared to readability estimates using the Spache or Dale-Chall formulas. In addition, a regression model was specified for predicting the grade level of a text a student could literally comprehend based on…

A Missouri study was conducted to investigate the reading abilities of the average vocational technical student to determine if this reading ability was commensurate with the material the student was assigned to read, and to compare the effectiveness of the reading ability to success in completing a vocational course of study. In order to secure…

Provides a chart to be used with the Dale-Chall Readability Formula to simplify computation of readability level. (MKM)

Determined was whether the Dale-Chall formula may be revised by supplementing the Dale list of 3,000 words with scientific terms and recalculating the formula to provide for a more valid evaluation of the readability of high school science materials. Procedures were that (1) terms similar in difficulty to those included in Dale's list of 3,000…

Concludes that the readability levels of textbooks can be done rapidly and accurately by computer. (RB)

A study compared the readability level of five categories of project books in 11 states. Using the Dale-Chall readability scale to rate the publications, it was concluded that 75 percent of the basic Unit I publications were above the reading level of 68 percent of the audience. (LRA)