"readability" of illustrations

[Dick Margulis]

Shira Abel wrote:
> I'm still trying to get my head around a second grade reading level. Kids
> only learn to read in 1st grade, so that means no multi-syllabic words
> whatsoever. See Dick? See Dick type?
> 

You can't see me type, because I don't have a webcam installed here and 
I don't have a remote agent running and even if I did I don't know you 
and so I wouldn't have given you access. Nyah!

But to answer Milan's question, this was done long enough ago that I 
don't think anyone was too concerned about testing documentation. That 
seems to be a more recent development (I could be wrong). If the City's 
purchasing agent looked at the doc and agreed it met the requirement, 
that was sufficient. Anyway, GE got paid.

Regarding what constitutes a second grade reading level when you're 
writing for adults, I think that's a pretty vague metric to begin with. 
Think in terms of adult literacy programs, ESL situations, etc. The 
material can encompass concepts that adults understand and have 
experience with and still have a low reading level. That's different 
from dealing with the worldview and life experiences of seven-year-olds, 
where the vocabulary is of necessity quite restricted.*

Dick

* Although I remember one parents' open house, when one of my sons was 
perhaps in second or third grade, and the teacher had left a word list 
on the blackboard from the day's class. She had asked the kids to think 
of words starting with S and she had written them on the board. I was 
surprised to see _succor_ on the list--not a word in the vocabulary of a 
lot of seven-year-olds, I'd guess.