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I checked https://readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-formulas.php https://readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-fo... and all tests a

by btilly 6y ago

I checked https://readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-formulas.php https://readabilityformulas.com/freetests/six-readability-fo... and all tests agreed that it was not just college level text, but advanced college level text. In literacy tests, under 2% of Americans read beyond a grade 12 level. Odds are than under 1% could read that terms of use and actually understand it. Even if they wanted to. (Note, they only analyze the first 3000 words.) TEXT READABILITY CONSENSUS CALCULATOR www.ReadabilityFormulas.com Timestamp: 11/02/2020 — 12:19:15pm Purpose: Our Text Readability Consensus Calculator uses 7 popular readability formulas to calculate the average grade level, reading age, and text difficulty of your sample text. Your Results: Your text: These Prezi Business Terms and Conditions, togethe ... (2920 words total) 1. Flesch Reading Ease score: 29 (text scale) Flesch Reading Ease scored your text: very difficult to read. 2. Gunning Fog: 17 (text scale) Gunning Fog scored your text: difficult to read. 3. Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 15 Grade level: College. 4. The Coleman-Liau Index: 13 Grade level: college 5. The SMOG Index: 14 Grade level: college 6. Automated Readability Index: 15 Grade level: College graduate 7. Linsear Write Formula: 18 Grade level: College Graduate and above. ---------------------------------------------- READABILITY CONSENSUS ---------------------------------------------- Based on (7) readability formulas, we have scored your text: Grade Level: 15 Reading Level: very difficult to read. Age of Reader: College graduate ----------------------------------------------

dahart 6y ago
> In literacy tests, under 2% of Americans read beyond a grade 12 level. I find this hard to believe, given that 34% of Americans have a college degree.
- btilly 6y ago
  https://www.wyliecomm.com/2019/03/us-literacy-rate/ https://www.wyliecomm.com/2019/03/us-literacy-rate/ and note that 2% of American adults are level 5. That's roughly "college level reading" on official measures. And yes, comparing high school graduation rates with adult literacy it is obvious that a lot of people graduated high school with skills below what they were supposed to have. I find this depressing but in accord with my experience.
  - dahart 6y ago
    > note that 2% of American adults are level 5. You might have misread that. It says 2% of global adults (“across all countries”) are level 5. It also says that level 5 does not officially exist, and level 4 is the highest level on the PIAAC scale. According to that article, 12% of Americans are in the highest level measured. Over 13% of Americans have post-graduate degrees. And while on the scale you linked to, the U.S. ranks lower than a lot of countries, don’t ignore the fact that the spread of absolute scores above the U.S. is in the single digit percentages. Framing these particular scores as representing some kind of glaring education problem here seems to be over-emphasizing minor global differences and ignoring some context. I hope this gives you reasons to feel more optimistic. We have plenty of room to improve, but it is clearly not as bad as you thought.
    - btilly 6y ago
      Not so clear. If you go to https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014008.pdf https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014008.pdf for a more detailed look at the data, you'll find that the fraction of adults world-wide who score at level 4/5 is the same as the USA. In age breakdowns, more US 55-65 year olds are at that top literacy bracket, and in every other age cohort is worse. Therefore there is no reason to believe that the US at the level 5 is any different than the global average. And there is reason to suspect that the USA is getting worse over time. Incidentally I was merely stating it as data and didn't blame this on a glaring education problem here. That would be a much longer discussion.
      - dahart 6y ago
        There is no level 5. It is clear that the earlier claim "under 2% of Americans read beyond a grade 12 level" is not true, and not what your supporting links actually say. It's absolutely clear that your speculation "Odds are than under 1% could read that [Prezi's] terms of use and actually understand it." is both not true and dramatically pessimistic. Yes, legalese is dense. Hardly anyone reads it because it takes a lot of time, not because nobody is capable. How many people read below a 12th grade level (whatever that means) are using Prezi in the first place? I'm just pointing out that your initial interpretation of the data was off by an order of magnitude.

by btilly 6y ago

dahart 6y ago

> In literacy tests, under 2% of Americans read beyond a grade 12 level. I find this hard to believe, given that 34% of Americans have a college degree.

btilly 6y ago
https://www.wyliecomm.com/2019/03/us-literacy-rate/ https://www.wyliecomm.com/2019/03/us-literacy-rate/ and note that 2% of American adults are level 5. That's roughly "college level reading" on official measures. And yes, comparing high school graduation rates with adult literacy it is obvious that a lot of people graduated high school with skills below what they were supposed to have. I find this depressing but in accord with my experience.
- dahart 6y ago
  > note that 2% of American adults are level 5. You might have misread that. It says 2% of global adults (“across all countries”) are level 5. It also says that level 5 does not officially exist, and level 4 is the highest level on the PIAAC scale. According to that article, 12% of Americans are in the highest level measured. Over 13% of Americans have post-graduate degrees. And while on the scale you linked to, the U.S. ranks lower than a lot of countries, don’t ignore the fact that the spread of absolute scores above the U.S. is in the single digit percentages. Framing these particular scores as representing some kind of glaring education problem here seems to be over-emphasizing minor global differences and ignoring some context. I hope this gives you reasons to feel more optimistic. We have plenty of room to improve, but it is clearly not as bad as you thought.
  - btilly 6y ago
    Not so clear. If you go to https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014008.pdf https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014008.pdf for a more detailed look at the data, you'll find that the fraction of adults world-wide who score at level 4/5 is the same as the USA. In age breakdowns, more US 55-65 year olds are at that top literacy bracket, and in every other age cohort is worse. Therefore there is no reason to believe that the US at the level 5 is any different than the global average. And there is reason to suspect that the USA is getting worse over time. Incidentally I was merely stating it as data and didn't blame this on a glaring education problem here. That would be a much longer discussion.
    - dahart 6y ago
      There is no level 5. It is clear that the earlier claim "under 2% of Americans read beyond a grade 12 level" is not true, and not what your supporting links actually say. It's absolutely clear that your speculation "Odds are than under 1% could read that [Prezi's] terms of use and actually understand it." is both not true and dramatically pessimistic. Yes, legalese is dense. Hardly anyone reads it because it takes a lot of time, not because nobody is capable. How many people read below a 12th grade level (whatever that means) are using Prezi in the first place? I'm just pointing out that your initial interpretation of the data was off by an order of magnitude.