Analyzed with the Flesch formula for reading ease and interest were 28 textbooks on the education of children with behavioral disorders and/or emotional disturbance. Reading levels were surprisingly low with one book in the “standard, grade 8 to 9” category, 8 in the “fairly difficult, grade 10 to 12” category, and the other 19 in the “difficult, college level” category; 11 of the books were classifed as “dull”, 15 as “mildly interesting”, one as “interesting”, and one as “highly interesting”. Textbook coverage on 25 topics was also analyzed and charted. Great disparity was found in the topics treated by the various authors. Near-unanimous coverage of the topic of behavioral theory was found, while coverage was sparse on the topics of normal development, counter theory, and motivation. Some of the textbooks were found to have inadequate subject and author indices and only 7 of the books contain a glossary.
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