Analysis of Readability and Interest of Home Economics Textbooks for Special Needs Learners

A study examined 58 home economics education textbooks in terms of reading difficulty, writing style, and interest level for special population learners. The objective was to identify texts, using six different readability formulas that were significantly more difficult and provided educational obstacles to special populations in their preparation for daily living skills and home economics careers. Likewise, the relatively easiest texts were identified for consideration in text evaluation and selection procedures and student placement. The six readability formulas were Flesch, Kincaid-Flesch, Dale-Chall, Gunning, Raygor, and Fry. A human interest index measured the personal appeal of reading passages by assessing the number of personally relevant words and sentences. The writing style of a book was evaluated by determining the percentage of passive sentences in the selected passage. A percentage greater than 30 percent indicated a formal writing style typical of technical and scientific writing that added a dimension of reading difficulty. Three passages of 100 words or more, ending with a complete sentence were selected from the first chapter, the final chapter, and the approximate middle page of the book. Results found the formulas were correlated and effective in discriminating texts of relative ease or difficulty. Writing style and human interest were not strong discriminating factors in identifying appropriate texts for students with low literacy skills. (Four tables are appended.) (YLB)