Readability and Interest of Health Occupations Textbooks for Special Needs Learners

The purpose of the study was to evaluate 17 representative health occupations textbooks in terms of reading difficulty, writing style, and interest level for special populations learners. The objective was to identify texts, using six different readability formulas, that were significantly more diificult, thus providing additional obstacles to special populations in their preparation for health occupations careers. Likewise, the relatively easier texts were identified for consideration in text evaluation and selection procedures. Additionally, representative text samples were analyzed with measures of writing style and human interest in order to consider a wider range of selection attributes. Results found that all readability formulas were highly correlated and were effective in discriminating between textbooks of relative ease or difficulty. Writing style and human interest were not strong discriminating factors in identifying accessible texts for special population students. The discussion of these factors includes recommended strategies for implementing textbook evacuation in terms of microcomputer analysis and individual student reading needs for students enrolled in health occupation programs