How hard is the reading in this class?

If the readings for a specific course seem really hard, does that mean you are not ready for college?  Not always.  Each discipline is made up of a group of professors who have studied together for a very long time.  They have a specific way of thinking about the world.  They have read the same studies and they share a lot of common background knowledge about a topic.  They take some concepts and ideas for granted.  They use vocabulary that they developed specifically for their own work within their discipline.  In fact, if you ask an instructor from one discipline to read a text written in another discipline, they might have some difficulty with that text. 

This tool is primarily designed to help instructors see how much insider knowledge the texts they assign assume.  Professors familiar with the text's discipline and the concepts explored there will have a much higher score than professors who have not done much reading in this discipline.  As a student, your score may be very low indeed. 

What does a low score mean?  It simply means the text is difficult.  It does not tell you anything about your reading skill.  If you would like to know how to handle difficult texts, try following the link to IMPROVING READING SKILLS.

Percent Correct	What It Means
<40%	Reading is not very accessible.
40-60%	Reading will be challenging.
60-80%	Reading is unfamiliar, but accessible.
>80%	Reading is familiar and easy to read.