September 2010 Archive

Readability Formulas (September 17, 2010)

When establishing or adding to a classroom library, it is important to keep the readability levels of the books in mind. You can use Readability Formulas to help you determine if the book in question would be at an appropriate level for your learners.

The first is the Flesch-Kincaid Formula, which is available in Microsoft Word. Select three samples of 100 consecutive words (in a book-take a sample from the beginning, middle, and end of the book) and type them into a Word document. Make sure not to use any hard returns, and don't include abbreviations (the readability formula will mistake the . in the abbreviation for a period which signifies the end of a sentence). One downside of this formula is that it seems to underestimate the difficulty of text. A level of professional judgment is needed.

The second and third are available from the same website and are the Spache Readability Formula and the Dale-Chall Readability Formula. You can find them at: http://www.lefthandlogic.com/htmdocs/tools/okapi/okapi.php. To use these formulas, type a 100 word passage in the "text to be analyzed" box. It is recommended to do this a few times from different sections of the book to get an idea about the entire book. If you have a book that is written at or below approximately the 3rd grade level, accept the default of the Spache formula. If you have a book that is written at the approximately at the 4th grade level and above, select the Dale-Chall option. Similar to the one mentioned above, don't include abbreviations with periods. One of the positives of the use of this website is the ability to place an asterisk next to a word that you know would be considered difficult, but for your student, it would be considered easy based upon their life experiences or job.