Where did the Raygor graph come from?
The Raygor graph was created by Alton L. Raygor in 1977. He was greatly inspired by the Fry Readability Formula. He, therefore, created Raygor to work as a similar calculation. There was a key difference, though. The Fry graph uses syllables as its main feature and Raygor uses letter counting as its main feature.
Alton Raygor considered words that had six or more letters in them as difficult. He felt that it took a lot of time to count syllables rather than letters. Syllables, he thought, could be misinterpreted. While the Fry graph is still used widely used. Raygor’s Readability Graph is highly accurate and popular too.
A readability score estimates the reading difficulty of texts by providing the level of readability for them. Maybe you don’t know much about what a readability index is and what it measures. Check it out here – see how it is explained.
The Raygor Readability Graph and the Fry Readability Graph are similar
The main difference between the two is their different features of measurement. The Fry Graph uses syllable counting. The Raygor Graph uses letter counting. Alton Raygor wanted to use letter counting because he felt it takes less time than syllable counting and found that letter counting offered more accurate results.
Another reading test that is similar to the Raygor Readability Test is the Automated Readability Test.
So how do you work out the formula?
o Take a 100-word sample passage that you want to test.
o Then count up the number of sentences that there are in the passage. Plot the answer you get on the graph.
o Then count the number of words in the passage that consists of more than six letters. In other words, count the more difficult, longer words. You will also plot the answer on the graph.
o You will get your result on the Raygor graph. It will be at the place where the two points meet. Look, here is an example to show you. This will help you to see the estimated reading level needed for a person to understand the text.
o The numbers of words having six or more characters are plotted on the horizontal axis (x-axis). The number of sentences per 100 words will be plotted on the vertical axis (y-axis).
Today, we have Readable to refer to. Should you use Raygor with Readable, you don't need to assess a plot point on a graph. The text will get analyzed and converted to a level of difficulty instantly.
Regarding Edward Fry's Readability Formula
Back in Raygor's day, there weren’t a whole lot of computers that were widely available to the public. That’s why Raygor’s method of calculating readability levels is accessible and fast. It could be calculated quickly on paper.
Today, with modern computing, we are given the opportunity to compute the above index for quite a few 100-word samples! We can get results for an entire text almost immediately.
What is the Raygor Readability Graph used for?
It is mostly used for educational purposes. This is because it is able to assess the difficulty level of text right up to the university level for college-level readers. The Raygor Readability Test doesn’t go below the 3rd grade, though. In fact, a Raygor estimate is more suited for middle school English language skills estimates.
Readability levels are important in middle school because it is at this time when a child will either be keen to read in the future or not. Books that kids read at difficult reading levels can’t be too difficult to understand and this can bore them, which will then make reading feel “forced” to them.
Librarians, teachers, and parents need to ensure that they give kids the right reading materials for their education level so that it is fun and engaging for the child. Even beyond middle school, when you implement the same thing as kids get older, you are ensuring that they stay eager and willing to continue reading.
Improving the Raygor score
Improving your score on the Raygor Readability Graph is quite simple. The most important thing to remember is to write simply. Use shorter, less complex sentences. That way, you don’t confuse your readers and you will be conveying clear messages to them. When you use simpler words, you improve your score.
You can maximize modern technology using the Raygor readability calculator. This will edit your text and make it 100% correct for you.
Conclusion
Both Alton Raygor and Edward Fry were two men who wanted to make reading text an easier thing to do. To do this, each man developed their reading index. The Raygor Graph is one such readability metric for English text.
The grade-level score of a U.S. text is calculated by the number of sentences and letters and the averages received get plotted onto a graph. The point where the number of sentences and the number of words intersects is the reading level of the text.
The Raygor graph is mainly used in secondary education. Today, the Raygor Readability Graph has proven hugely helpful in classifying teaching materials and books into the correct reading groups and determining average literacy levels.
All Readability Tests:
Here is a list of all readability tests.
