FORCAST readability formula

The FORCAST readability formula was devised for assessing U.S. army technical manuals and forms. It is the only test not designed for running narrative, so it is mostly appropriate for multiple-choice quizzes, applications, entrance forms, etc. This test calculates the US grade level of a text sample based on its number of monosyllabic words.

Note that FORCAST results may be slightly different from other tests because it does not take sentence length into account. If your document is structured mostly with tables and lists then expect there to be some variance between the FORCAST grade level and other tests' grade levels.

The FORCAST Formula

GL = 20-(M/10)

Where:

GL	U.S. grade level
M	Number of monosyllabic words

This test requires a 150-word sample; however, note that Readability Studio always analyzes your entire document to guarantee the most accurate results and does not use subsamples for any of its test calculations. If a formula requires a subsample of a specific size, then standardization is used.

Citations

Ford, P., Caylor, J., and Sticht, T. (1992). 'The FORCAST Readability Formula', Pennsylvania State University Nutrition Center, Bridge to Excellence Conference.