In 2012 the Leyte Normal University developed a computer software--modelled after the Spache Readability Formula (1953) made for English--made to help rank texts that can is used by teachers or research groups on selecting appropriate reading materials to support the DepEd's MTB-MLE program in Region VIII, in the Philippines. However,…

Standards for literacy in the twenty-first century raise the bar on the complexity of texts and the tasks for which they are used. The strengths and limitations of contemporary approaches to text complexity are discussed with respect to major points raised in the six articles in this special issue. In addition, four features of text that are of…

Standard 10 of the Common Core State Standards attends to students' capacity with complex text. This standard distinguishes the Common Core State Standards from previous standards documents. This article describes a process--the Text Complexity Multi-Index (TCMI)--that supports teachers in studying texts to support their students in…

The Common Core Standards for the English Language Arts (CCSS) provide explicit guidelines matching grade-level bands (e.g., 2-3, 4-5) with targeted text complexity levels. The CCSS staircase accelerates text expectations for students across Grades 2-12 in order to close a gap in the complexity of texts typically used in high school and those of…

Special education elementary students (N=271) were tested on three reading passages; six readability formulas were applied to the passages. Rank orderings of the passages based on readability formulas failed to agree with those based on students' actual performance. Implications for measuring students' reading proficiency and for selecting…

Provides tables to be used with the Spache Revised Readability Formula that decrease the number of necessary calculations. (MKM)

This paper describes the Harris-Jacobson Readability Formula A, a revision of a readability formula based on word lists from "Basic Elementary Reading Vocabularies." Section one of the paper discusses procedures for using the formula, including the selection of samples, scoring the variables, and applying the formula. The next section…

Concludes that test results are essentially the same for both the Flesch and Gunning reading indices. (RB)

Looks at ERIC documents that deal with readability concerns. (FL)

Argues that the use of microcomputers and prewritten computer programs can save teachers time and effort in calculating the readability levels of written materials. (FL)

Takes issue with E. Fry's widely accepted claim that the average readability of a book is ascertainable on the basis of only three samples; reports that numerous samples were needed to estimate readability means of 36 basal workbooks. (MKM)

This study examined the McCall-Crabbs Standard Test Lessons in Reading to determine whether selections of passages covered a sufficiently wide range of difficulty to warrant their use in developing readability formulas. The results, which find several readability formulas suspect, are discussed. (Author/MT)

Noting that research indicating Newbery Medal books are not popular with elementary students in spite of their unquestioned superiority in plot, characterization, and style, a study examined the readability level of Newbery Medal winners from 1974 to 1986. Three readability formulas were used to assess readability: Gunning's Fog Index, Fry…

Edward Fry's Graph for Estimating Readability (Extended) was used to determine the approximate readability levels of books within the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and "Little House" series. The findings indicated that the levels of readability did not remain the same throughout each series, with the Nancy Drew series ranging in reading levels from…

Describes a study using the Fry Readability Graph to determine the parameter values for average readability and the range of readability of basal readers. (JM)