What exactly does reading on a (insert grade) level mean?
 

This might be a stupid question, but what does reading on a 5th, 4th, 9th, or Adult level mean exactly? Does it soley have to do with being able to understand certain books (See Spot Run being kindergarden level, War and Peace being adult) or are their other factors involved. Also is there some kind of bible that says whats appropriate for the various levels or reading?

Wouldn't how many words you can read in a minute be a factor, too?

If that's the case I probably read on a second grade level :lol:

I think it means basically that you can easily read and understand at the same level as someone in that grade would be expected to. I don't think there are really any firmly established rules, but when I was in grade school all the library books were rated on a system that took into consideration how long the book was, how many words were in an average sentence, and how long the average word was. Not really a fool-proof method, but I suppose it gave you a general idea.

I know at work all of our outgoing mail cannot be written over a 9th grade level. Don't want to confuse the customers.

MSWord has a grammar checker that tells you the reading level of what you wrote. It looks at sentence length and word choice.

Reading level is measured in a variety of ways. While I'd never advocate using MSWord to determine this, Nick is essentially correct. It involves two main factors - vocabulary and sentence length/structure.

Shorter simpler sentences and a more primary vocabulary will yield a lower reading level. Long, complex sentences with high-level vocabulary will jack up the level. Basically, if something's written at a 4th-grade level, it means that the average 4th-grader can read and understand it.

I'm glad I've never used this for any term papers I've written...probably depress the hell out of me.


I've often heard that the average newspaper is written at a 3rd grade level, which is kind of depressing in itself, given the statement it makes on society.

Considering that technical manuals are supposed to be written on a 6th grade level, that's not too bad.

The rule of thumb is 6th, not 3rd. Or at least it was when I was in journalism school....

I just checked four of the papers I wrote for school and it said I wrote at a 12.0 grade level for each one. The reliability of the grade level checker seems to be very good. I was honestly expecting it to say that I wrote at a seventh grade level.

By the way, this post was written at a 7.2 grade level.

I played with it for a little while. It actually gave me a warning because I'd written a technical memo at a 10th grade level. I think the grade level was increased by the technical terms, and a semicolon put me over the top.

Again - the MSWord level checker is by no means standard. Use it as a guideline, not a rule.

I would never use it as a rule. If I truly want to assess what grade level someone is reading at I would use a formal standardized test. I was just impressed with the reliability of the grade level checker. I have no clue if it is accurate or not.

:lol: Nice.

I believe that most newspapers have writing at a 6th grade level. U.S. News & World Report attempts a 9th grade level. And I believe I heard The Economist writes at a 12th grade level.

Hmmm, interesting. According to Word, I write at a 6th grade level, with 5% of my sentences being passive. I can live with that.

Also worth noting that good writing generally isn't at a high level. A lot of folks will confuse the notion of writing at a high grade level with writing well. Skilled writers can write at a lower (more accessible) grade level.

So ... if you're finding that your writing scores very high, you might want to postpone the celebration. It's not really a good thing. In most cases, lower is better.

To calculate Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level -


http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8...aa572b5de2.png

mgbfan, this is my favorite example of how simple writing is often good writing. All but seven words have one-syllable, and all the words are in common use.

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecc 9:11.