The psychoeducational report has many purposes and many readers. Given this, it is imperative that psychoeducational reports are well written, as well as acceptable to and understood by the readers. This study aimed to determine from the perspective of both teacher (report reader) and psychologist (report writer) the factors that make an effective…

This is the final installment of a 3-part series of articles proposing substantial changes in assessment practices, urging school psychologists to write reports that are responsive to the needs of primary consumers--parents and educators, in particular. According to the author, the prevailing practice of writing long, complex reports with a focus…

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)

Investigates the effectiveness of the prose communication in contemporary corporate annual reports. Indicates that a sample of 65 Canadian annual reports for 1984 were classified as "difficult" to "very difficult" and beyond the fluent comprehension ease of 92 percent of the adult population and 56 percent of the investor…

Points out that readability indexes can serve a useful role in the teaching of writing when used as they were intended to be used. Focuses on Gunning's Fog Index. (EL)

Surveys recent trends in the area of clear writing. Discusses the problem of incomprehensible language in functional writing (forms and documents). Considers solutions, particularly those developed by the Document Design Center. (PD)

Presents a brief history of readability formulas (discussing their capabilities and liabilities) and synthesizes current readability research for teachers who want to use readability principles in their work and who want to teach these principles to their students. Contains a table of the most commonly used formulas that lists their variables,…

The Gunning Fog Index of readability indicates both the average length of words and the difficult words (three or more syllables) in written material. This document describes a business communication course at Wayne State University in which students calculate the Gunning Fog Index of two of their writing assignments with the aid of the…

Norms for Air Force technical training materials were developed for seven previously developed structure-of-intellect and seven psycholinguistically oriented variables which have been used to assess the readability/comprehensibility of textual materials. Separate norms are presented for Air Force study guides, manuals, career development course…

A study was conducted to test whether quantitative feedback would help students write with the stylistic simplicity appropriate to their audience and purpose without sacrificing other elements of good writing. Two business and technical writing classes received identical reading assignments, classroom activities, and writing assignments; but one…

Writers and writing teachers should be wary of depending on readability indexes as indicators of the difficulty of written messages. The Gunning Fog Index and the Damerst Clear Index, two readability formulas, were used to determine the readability of "A Statement of Editorial Policy" and two abstracts appearing in an issue of…

Tested model for writing psychological reports that specified types of data and mode of data presentation most likely to be viewed positively by readers. School psychologists rated comparable sets of statements that might appear in school psychological reports, one set model based and the other not. Respondents rated model-based statements as…

Examines two ways that graphics and graphic techniques can help communicate technical topics visually: by helping readers navigate through a manual; and by helping readers better understand the material in the manual. (SR)

Written as an aid for writers of Army narrative training literature, this guidebook emphasizes performance-oriented writing (preparation of literature intended to help someone learn and perform job related tasks). The eight chapters contain extensive examples and illustrations. An introductory chapter discusses why and how the guidebook was…

Notes that while compound nouns are the lexical trademark of many technical languages, their simple surface structure belies the complexities involved in their generation and comprehension. Suggests that by considering carefully these underlying complexities, technical writers can improve the readability of their texts. (HTH)