Rather than argue over the reading level, why not apply comon sense tools? Here are two commonly used formulas in which reputable folks use.
Below these are two links in which you may use to figure as a rule of thumb the reading level of most any document. Even what is written on the posts?
This is the first:
The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula
Step 1: Calculate the average number of words used per sentence.
Step 2: Calculate the average number of syllables per word.
Step 3: Multiply the average number of words by 0.39 and add it to the average number of syllables per word multiplied by 11.8.
Step 4: Subtract 15.59 from the result.
The specific mathematical formula is:
FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59
Where,
FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age
ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)
ASW = Average number of Syllable per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)
Analyzing the results is a simple exercise. For instance, a score of 5.0 indicates a grade-school level; i.e., a score of 9.3 means that a ninth grader would be able to read the document. This score makes it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts for the students.
Theoretically, the lowest grade level score could be -3.4, but since there are no real passages that have every sentence consisting of a one-syllable word, it is a highly improbable result in practice.
NOTE:
The US Government Department of Defense uses Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level formula as a standard test.
Another is:
he SMOG Readability Formula
Step 1: Take the entire text to be assessed.
Step 2: Count 10 sentences in a row near the beginning, 10 in the middle, and 10 in the end for a total of 30 sentences.
Step 3: Count every word with three or more syllables in each group of sentences, even if the same word appears more than once.
Step 4: Calculate the square root of the number arrived at in Step 3 and round it off to nearest 10.
Step 4: Add 3 to the figure arrived at in Step 4 to know the SMOG Grade, i.e., the reading grade that a person must have reached if he is to understand fully the text assessed.
SMOG grade = 3 + Square Root of Polysyllable Count
The SMOG Formula is considered appropriate for secondary age (4th grade to college level) readers.
The premises of McLaughlin’s SMOG Formula are:
1. A sentence is defined as a string of words punctuated with a period, an exclamation mark, or a question mark.
2. Consider long sentences with a semi-colon as two sentences.
3. Words with hyphen are considered as a single word.
4. Proper nouns, if polysyllabic should be counted.
5. Numbers that are written should be counted. If written in numeric form, they should be pronounced to determine if they are polysyllabic.
6. Abbreviations should be read as though unabbreviated to determine if they are polysyllabic. However, abbreviations should be avoided unless commonly known.
7. If the text being graded is shorter than 30 sentences, follow the steps below:
i. Count all the polysyllabic words in the text
ii. Count the number of sentences in the text.
iii. Divide the figures obtained in i. by the figure obtained in ii. to arrive at Average Polysyllabic Words per sentence.
iv. Multiply the figure obtained in iii. with the average number of sentences short of 30.
v. Add the figure obtained in iv. to the total number of polysyllabic words.
vi. Compare the number of polysyllabic words in the SMOG Conversion Table.
SMOG Conversion Table
Total Polysyllabic Word Count Approximate Grade Level (+1.5 Grades)
1 - 6 5
7 - 12 6
13 - 20 7
21 - 30 8
31 - 42 9
43 - 56 10
57 - 72 11
73 - 90 12
91 - 110 13
111 - 132 14
133 - 156 15
157 - 182 16
183 - 210 17
211 - 240 18
Frankly, I offer these for folks who want to take time to work through the process.
You can actually cut and past into these links and get a quick initial results:
Or