1. The assumptions about students' vocabulary knowledge are appropriate.

2. The assumptions about students' prior knowledge are appropriate.

3. The assumptions about students' general experiential background are appropriate.

4. New concepts are explicitly linked to the students' prior knowledge or to their experiential background.

5. The text introduces abstract concepts by accompanying them with many concrete examples.

6. The text introduces new concepts one at a time, with a sufficient number of examples for each one.

7. Definitions are understandable and at a lower level of abstraction than the concept being defined.

8. The text avoids irrelevant details.

9. The text explicitly states important complex relationships (e.g., causality and conditionality) rather than always expecting the reader to infer them from the context?

1. The title clearly defines the contents of the text.

2. The text includes headings and subheadings.

1. If the text includes headings and subheadings, it is easy to differentiate between them. (For example, the font style of headings vs. subheadings is different enough that a reader would not mistake a subheading under the first heading to instead be a second heading.)

2. If the text includes headings and subheadings, they provide assistance in breaking the text into relevant parts.

3. Technical terms and/or specialized vocabulary stand out from the rest of the text (e.g., they are in a different font or are they listed in the margins of the page).

4. An adequate context is provided to allow students to determine the meanings of technical terms and/or specialized vocabulary.

5. Any and all charts, graphs, pictures, and/or illustrations appear on the same or opposite page as the text reference to them. In other words, you do not have to turn a page in order to find a chart, graph, picture and/or illustration that the reading refers you to.

6. Any graphs and charts are easy to read and are supportive of the textual material.

7. Any illustrations and picture are of high quality, are appropriate to the level of students, and are supportive of the textual material.

8. The print size of the text is appropriate to the level of student readers.

9. Concepts are spaced appropriately through the text, rather than being too many in too short a space.

10. The author's style is appropriate to the level of students who will be using the text.

1. Chapter titles, headings, and subheadings are interesting and capture the reader's attention.

2. The writing style of the text is particularly interesting (e.g., the author uses colorful language and/or humor).

3. The layout and overall appearance of pages is interesting and captures the reader's attention

4. Color is used to make the text more appealing.

5. The text provides positive and motivating models for both sexes as well as for other racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.

SUMMARY RATING

Circle one choice for each item.

    The text rates highest in understandability / usability / interest.

    The text rates lowest in understandability / usability / interest.