Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Longtime users of Microsoft Word may be familiar with the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score, which considers the average number of words per sentence and the average number of syllables per word within a written text, and assigns an overall grade level score to the text. A text with a score of 7.3, for instance, would be understandable by the average seventh grader in America, whereas a score of 11.9 would indicate a more complex text understandable by an above-average high school junior.
According to Smart Politics' analysis, President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union speech received the second lowest Flesch-Kincaid SOTU grade level score since FDR.
A Smart Politics analysis of 69 orally delivered State of the Union Addresses since the mid-1930s finds the text of Obama's speech to have notched the second lowest score on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test recorded by a U.S. President.
Obama's speech had a Flesch-Kincaid grade level score of just 8.1 - which is a half a grade lower than the 8.8 he tallied in 2010.
President Obama now has the lowest average Flesch-Kincaid score for State of the Union addresses of any modern president - with his 8.5 grade level falling just below the 8.6 score recorded by George H.W. Bush during his presidency.
By contrast - the speeches delivered by two of the most popular presidents in Republican circles in recent generations - Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush - recorded average scores of 10.3 and 10.4 respectively - nearly two full grade levels higher than Obama.
Kennedy (12.0) and Eisenhower (11.9) delivered speeches that had a reading difficulty of three and a half grade levels higher than Obama.
The way I see it, there are two possible conclusions one could draw from this nugget of analysis, neither of which is particularly flattering. Either we’ve got a president who isn’t as sophisticated as his sycophants in the punditocracy make him out to be, or we’ve got a president who is so contemptuous of the American people, that he feels he must address them as though they’re 13-year old children.
Then again, perhaps the man’s just got a team of dull speechwriters.
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May '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
The way I see it, there are two possible conclusions one could draw from this nugget of analysis, neither of which is particularly flattering. Either we’ve got a president who isn’t as sophisticated as his sycophants in the punditocracy make him out to be, or we’ve got a president who is so contemptuous of the American people, that he feels he must address them as though they’re 13-year old children.
Then again, perhaps the man’s just got a team of dull speechwriters. ·
Yes, yes and yes.
Jul '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Obama's SOTU Above My Pay Grade Listening Level
Edited on Jan 27, 2011 at 11:18amMay '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
How does this score match up against the convention speech by SARAH PALIN?
Got an Organizing for America email just now. It says "What the nation saw Tuesday night was leadership." Manifestly untrue, as what the nation saw Tuesday night was a rerun of Bones. They also offer (for a mere $25) to send you a t-shirt that says "We Do Big Things". Really. There's even a picture of it.
Y'know, maybe they're on to something when they start blaming the messaging.
May '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
How would "yes we can" score?
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Kervinlee: How would "yes we can" score? · Jan 27 at 11:46am
According to this calculator, it scores a -3. I didn't even know you could score below 0!
May '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Aren't most newspapers intentionally designed around the same reading level?
Sep '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
I'm surprised that you aren't commending President Obama on his frugal approach to education reform in the public schools. Rather than blowing billions on pumping up teacher's union surpluses he's dumbing down his speeches so even undocumented Ivy Leaguers who've misplaced their birth certificates, residency certificates, college transcripts, journal articles and college essays can listen and enjoy this American taxpayer funded slouch, grunt and belch toward Gomorrah.
I'd like to give a big shout out now to all my non language enabled four legged fellow mammals out there in Ricochet, including all 7 of you in Claire's apartment in Anatolia. At the current rate of decay of SOFU Flesch-Kincaid scores you too will one day be able to enjoy the meows, dog barks and wolf whistles which will characterize the SOFU. To maximize ratings, they will add in some car explosions and American Idol auditions.
Yes U Kan!
LOL!
KYTDGB!
May '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Diane Ellis, Ed.
According to this calculator, it scores a -3. I didn't even know you could score below 0! · Jan 27 at 11:59am
I won't even ask about "hope and change."
Sep '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Glossary:
KYTDGB - Kiss Your Tax Dollars Good Bye
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Pseudodionysius: Glossary:
KYTDGB - Kiss Your Tax Dollars Good Bye · Jan 27 at 12:20pm
Thank you for the elucidation. I just assumed KYTDGB was a sound a cat uses in a fight.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Pseudodionysius: Glossary:
KYTDGB - Kiss Your Tax Dollars Good Bye · Jan 27 at 12:20pm
Thank you for the elucidation. I just assumed KYTDGB was a sound a cat uses in a fight. · Jan 27 at 12:24pm
The last time I did that the embedded Youtube video forced Diane (the redhead, not the editor) to lock herself in her bathroom. Don't make me catty. You wouldn't like me when I'm catty. I live in Canada, so, of course, the future bankruptcies in the US have no effect on us given the miniscule level of trade between the two countries.
I also read that Target is coming into Canada. Just another example of the fiendish work of gun nut Sarah Palin. Soon we'll all be a Target.
Edited on Jan 27, 2011 at 2:11pmNov '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Kervinlee: How would "yes we can" score? · Jan 27 at 11:46am
According to this calculator, it scores a -3. I didn't even know you could score below 0! · Jan 27 at 11:59am
If you change it to "Yes, we can." the grade level goes all the way up to...-2! Proper punctuation and capitalization matters folks.
And now I'm going to be testing everything I type today with that.
May '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
TheRoyalFamily
Diane Ellis, Ed.
According to this calculator, it scores a -3. I didn't even know you could score below 0! · Jan 27 at 11:59am
If you change it to "Yes, we can." the grade level goes all the way up to...-2! Proper punctuation and capitalization matters folks.
And now I'm going to be testing everything I type today with that. · Jan 27 at 12:34pm
I think you cannot use a comma unless it is placed after a coordinating conjunction: "for, and, nor, but, or, yet."
"Yes we can" goes back to -3, unless the capitalization gives it a bump.
Jul '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Kervinlee: How would "yes we can" score? · Jan 27 at 11:46am
According to this calculator, it scores a -3. I didn't even know you could score below 0! · Jan 27 at 11:59am
That just means condescending to anyone above the age of three.
Jan '11
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
This is a non-issue.
I want a speech from my President that's open, direct, honest and clear - reading level be damned. Would Obama's speech have been improved by being just as murky and disingenuous but with greater rhetorical complexity?
We can't answer "yes" to that and call ourselves intellectually honest.
Cicero's first oration against Catiline scores about a 13/college freshman level on the F-C. I'd paste a representative line, but Cicero's sentences aren't compatible with Ricochet's 200-word limit.
Congratulations, Cicero, on impressing every freshman rhetoric class from 15AD to 2015AD.
Reagan's first inaugural address scores at ~9th/10th grade - hardly a significant departure from the 8th grade. If Diane is willing to make the argument that Reagan looked down on us as not even having the intellect of a high school graduate, then I'm willing to read it.
Obama's speech was bland and ineffectual - and neither had a thing to do with its reading level.
Edited on Jan 27, 2011 at 2:21pmMay '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
How about: "We are broke?"
Sep '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Cicero's first oration against Cataline scores about a 13/college freshman level on the F-C. I'd paste a representative line, but Cicero's sentences aren't compatible with Ricochet's 200-word limit.
Cicero's letters were much different than his speeches. And since both were in Latin, a Latin to English translation will generate misleading scores on any readability index. John Henry Newman modeled his prose and oratory on Cicero for a reason.
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Matthew, I share the sentiment that a good speech is marked by a clear message and is spoken with words that are readily understood by its intended audience. Nevertheless, I find it notable that Obama's most recent SOTU ranked at the bottom of F-K scale when compared to all modern presidents.
Reagan, whom many of us in these parts uphold to be the gold-standard when it comes to modern orators, delivered speeches that were beautifully crafted and were characterized by passion and purpose. They had a clear message and were spoken in plain English. And yet, his average Flesch-Kincaid score (for his seven SOTU speeches) was a 10.257, which is indeed a significant departure from an 8th grade score.
You're response to the analysis is who cares? Might just be me, but I believe that words and language and speech matter.
Jan '11
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Pseudo,
"Cicero's letters were much different than his speeches."
I used an example from Cicero's first oration against Catiline - not Cicero's first letter to the editor against Catiline.
"... since both were in Latin, a Latin to English translation will generate misleading scores on any readability index."
If you've got the time, please explain how.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's SOTU Scores at Eighth Grade Reading Level
Would Obama's speech have been improved by being just as murky and disingenuous but with greater rhetorical complexity?
Based on what I've read, seen, heard and blogged the rhetorical level he achieved was likely overkill for the cargo cult economics he espoused in his speech. I don't think impending fiscal collapse can be elevated passed a junior high complexity level without creating a Win The Future comment from his speech writers.
Enjoy the veal.