A Comparison of Results Obtained Using the Cloze Procedure With Readability Levels Using the Dale-Chall Formula on Selected University Textbooks.

Two college freshman required texts were chosen for analysis of readability and of cloze performance on selected passages. One cloze passage was administered to each of 218 students enrolled in General Psychology and Principles of Biology courses. Dale-Chall readability levels were separately calculated for the same passages. Reading levels of the selected textbooks ranged from fifth/sixth grade to college graduate level. Results of the cloze tests indicated that the majority of the passages selected could be read by students at the instructional level, although only 22% for one text and 42% for the other could be read at the independent reading level, which is usually required. (AA)