Presents guidelines for use in examining the comprehensibility of a textbook, questions to ask about the book, and suggestions for using the guide questions. (FL)

Offers a worksheet for evaluating the readability of content area textbooks. (RL)

Eight college listening texts were selected and evaluated by the following criteria: organization, supporting material, and readability. Text organization was assessed by preface material, table of contents, index, and references. Text supporting material was evaluated by the use of hard data, soft data, visual aids, and bibliographies. Text…

This paper suggests that teachers concentrate on the ideational and structural properties of text rather than on information acquired from readability formulas when selecting and using texts. Emphasis is given to the importance of context in the analysis of text, and a framework is suggested for examining the text considering the functions texts…

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…

Readability formulas typically yield results stated as a number or grade equivalent. However, results of one formula may not be compared to another because formulas use different criteria to measure readability. A description of eight popular formulas illustrate this point. Suggests that other factors be considered when selecting reading…

Discusses factors that psychology professors should consider when selecting a textbook for introductory courses. These include readability, human interest level, comprehensiveness, and authoritative accuracy of the material. (RM)

Notes the readability level of many high school chemistry textbooks is far above students' reading levels. Conducts two separate studies, making every effort to keep the two classes as similar as possible in all aspects except text. Finds strong evidence that changing the chemistry textbook resulted in an increase in student achievement. Suggests…

Reports on the evaluation of readability levels of 16 public speaking textbooks and 7 skills-oriented interpersonal communication textbooks. Finds sizable differences among public speaking textbooks. Advocates using readability data in the process of textbook selection and suggests how to do so. (SR)

According to analysis of the readability of textbooks used in 12 "common body of knowledge" courses in business administration, the higher the readability level, the lower the grade averages, fewer As, and the higher the number of withdrawals from the course. Although readability may not be the only influence, it is an important…

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)

Major investigations have shown that children care little for social studies as a school subject. Therefore, a closer look was taken at social studies textbooks in order to ascertain if the reading difficulty of the texts was an important cause behind the children's dislike. This study evaluated the reading levels of 41 social studies texts…

New editions of selected college textbooks have been found to be more difficult than former ones, and experiments show that students learn less effectively from the new editions. Guidelines are offered for choosing textbooks, such as writing style, conceptual density, and the utility of readability analyses. (Editor/LBH)

Discusses reading levels of books in the sciences, and explains the use of the Readability Graph. Also reported are reading levels of selected high school physics texts. (GA)

Presents an annotated list of textbooks in a number of vocational content areas and includes the readability level of each text. (TO)