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Revisiting the Readability of K–8 Science

Textbooks: Publishers’ Failures and

Implications for Classroom Teachers

By Susan Szabo, Becky Barton Sinclair, Christopher Long,
and Gilbert Naizer

This study revisited readability for the top two science textbook series purchased and on the
Texas state science textbook adoption list, a prime source for curriculum decisions throughout
the United States. In spite of prior research suggesting publishers make changes, the authors
found that texts at all grade levels except for Grade 8 are still written two to three levels above
appropriate reading level. They discuss repercussions for students, textbook publishers, and
classroom teachers.

extbooks are a big part of the curriculum that teachers use to help students learn
Tcontent. However, if students cannot read these textbooks, learning content
presented in them is difficult. Past researchers (Jangard, 1970; Newport, 1965;
Trainer, 2006; Williams & Yore, 1985) showed science textbooks were written at
frustrational reading levels, which suggested that publishers needed to pay more
attention to readability to make new textbooks more understandable for students of all
ages. However, more recent studies done on middle school, high school, and college
textbooks show science textbooks are still too difficult for students to read (Burton,
2014; Chiang-Soong & Yager, 2010; Gallager et al., 2017; Hu & Gao, 2021). Thus,
the authors revisited the readability issue using the two top K–8 science textbook
series on the Texas textbook adoption list—a prime source for curriculum decisions
throughout the United States (Cavanagh, 2018)—and found that these texts were
also written above grade level. This led us to presume that textbook writers and
publishers are not listening to past research and recommendations. Therefore, if we
want students to grow up to understand important concepts about the world in which
they live or to become some type of scientist, it appears to be exclusively up to
classroom teachers to plan purposeful literacy activities that will engage students
who are trying to learn science content using their textbooks.

Readability
Readability is the ease with which one (child or adult) can read the text (Klare,
1963). Various variables determine text readability, such as the content (i.e., the
complexity of vocabulary and syntax), the style, the format, and the structure
or organization of text (Gray & Leary, 1935; Vogel & Washburne, 1928). Thus,
readability tests measure such variables as sentence length, word length and number
of syllables, number of unfamiliar words, percentage of unique words, number of
prepositional phrases—all factors of sentence complexity—to determine the level of
education someone must have to read the text. Reading a text with ease is important
as it allows one’s brain to concentrate on the meaning of the written text rather than
spending time figuring out the words. Spending less time on word analysis and more
time on critical thinking and reflection leads to more time reading and learning.
Thus, readability of the text is an important issue.

26 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators