Using Cloze Procedure in Assessing the Readability of Approved Chemistry Textbooks in Ebonyi State Secondary Schools in Nigeria

This study assessed the readability of three (3) approved chemistry textbooks in Ebonyi State senior secondary schools. The study employed descriptive evaluation research design. It was carried out in Ebonyi State of Nigeria. Simple random sampling was used to draw three (3) chemistry textbooks out of seven (7) approved for Ebonyi State. Twenty one secondary schools were drawn from the three education zone through simple random sampling. One instrument was used chemistry textbook readability test (CTRT). This is a cloze test technique for determining the readability of chemistry textbooks. The CTRT was developed by the researcher. It was systemically drawn from the themes to ensure fair representation of the sections of the textbooks. It was validated by three experts in educational measurement and evaluation from Enugu State University of science and technology ESUT, Enugu. The CTRT was assessed for readability using test re-test procedure. The mean readability score of the students of each class levels together with the standard deviation were calculated and interpreted based on guideline provided by Barmuth (1968) and Harrison (1980). The two research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that the three approved chemistry textbooks, their scores fall within the “readable” and “very readable” and their deviations across class levels are not cloze ie there is variation in their reading ability across class level. Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, recommendations were made.