When teachers select textbooks for adoption, it is crucial to select the textbooks which textual materials meets the needs and interests of students. In this textbook evaluation, the author review and critique three different 9th grade Buddhism textbooks for World History I. The textbooks are evaluated by using four different formulas to determine the readability level for each of the textbooks. This report will provide the findings recorded for each textbook, and will indicate which textbook was found to be the most suitable for a 9th grade World History I.
The Fry Graph formula
Edward Fry developed the Fry Graph formula, which is the most popular formula use to evaluation textbook. In 1968, Fry developed readability tests based on a graph. This graph-based test determined textbooks readability through high school. Then, the formula was validated with materials from primary and secondary schools. Fry extended the graph to primary levels in 1969. Then, in his book Elementary Reading Instruction, he extended the graph to test through the college years in 1977. The Fry formula’s evaluation consists of the selection of three passages; two 100 words passages from the beginning of the textbook, and one 100 words passage from the end of the textbook. The number of sentences in each passage were counted and averaged. To determine the Fry’s readability of the textbook, the syllables in each of the 100 words passages were counted and averaged (Richardson, Morgan, & Fleener, 2012).
The SMOG formula
SMOG Readability Formula was created in 1969 by McLaughlin. He introduced the formula in an article called, SMOG Grading – A New Readability Formula in the Journal of Reading. The SMOG Readability Formula estimates the level of education a person needs to comprehend the language of the writing. The SMOG requires the use of three different 10 sentence passages; two passages from the beginning of the textbook, and one passage from the end of the