advanced search
Teacher Resources Interactive Catalog Find A Store

Shopping Cart  0 Item(s) in cart

Subtotal: $0.00





 
 

Educational Articles

Readability Formulas
By Marion Hindes
for Remedia Publications

Give a Reality Check to Readability Scoring

What do we mean by readability? In this article we will refer to readability as how easy a text is to decode. It may not necessarily mean how easy it is to understand. For example, a student can accurately pronounce a word but still not understand its meaning. To the student, the word is readable, but not understandable. (In a future article we will discuss various readability/comprehension factors which help make a text easier to understand. In this article we will cover readability formulas only).

How do we measure readability (decodeability)? One way is to use readability scales. These are mathematical formulas used to help predict reading levels. They are tools to help determine the difficulty of a text. Formulas are particularly useful for publishers who cannot use such informal assessments as having students read aloud to determine if they are decoding correctly. They can be calculated by hand (a tedious process of counting words, syllables, and sentences, then plugging this information into a mathematical formula or a graph), or by using readability software.

Whatever method is used, it is important to keep the following in mind:

•  Readability formulas are guidelines only. At best they have a margin of error of + or - 1.5 grade levels. Do not overinterpret the results. 

•  Depending on the scales used, their results may differ from each other by several grade levels. 

•  They measure only a few of the many factors affecting readability and comprehension. 

•  Most formulas measure: (1) word length - number of letters and/or syllables in a word (2) sentence length - how many words in a sentence and the number of sentences in a selection. 

•  A few measure difficulty of vocabulary. Words in a selection are “matched” with a predetermined vocabulary list. It might be a list of words that 4th graders should know. Obviously, this formula could only be fairly and accurately applied to materials for grades 4 and above. 

•  To obtain the most accurate results it is important to: (1) use the right readability formula for your students’ grade levels (different formulas may be more accurate for certain grade levels) and (2) follow directions carefully. 

•  Teachers will find it helpful to add their own effective ways of determining how readable a text is to a particular student.

Since readability formulas measure word and sentence length, both valid readability factors, we at Remedia do use them. They help us provide readability-controlled materials in order to meet the special education needs of many of our valued clients. At the same time, we realize that they are not designed to measure every other factor affecting readability and comprehension, such as sentence structure or appeal to the reader. We are also aware of the variance in standards and expectations set for each grade level. What is first grade material in one school may be second grade in another. At Remedia we strive to take all these factors into consideration as we develop and revise materials. We leave the rest in your capable hands. Regarding readability, you - and your students - will be the final judge.


-- Marion Hindes