Presents a standard textbook adoption process orchestrated by a textbook selection committee. The committee conducts a needs survey, reviews materials, selects three series finalists, arranges for the publishers of the selected materials to make presentations to the faculty, visits schools using the materials, and makes a final choice. (Author/WD)

Outlines some procedures for the sensible selection of educational books, products, and other materials for the English classroom. (DD)

Gives a list of guidelines for reading specialists to use in evaluating content area textbooks. (MKM)

Discusses the development of an instrument to be used by elementary teachers in the evaluation of social studies textbooks. The instrument itself is included in the article. (RM)

Suggestions are made for each step in the process of selecting textbooks to support classroom instruction of hearing-impaired students. Steps include conducting a needs assessment, locating potential materials, defining roles of selection committee members, and developing evaluation criteria. An evaluation form and a timeline for the selection…

Presents 30 questions about values in reading that teachers can review when deciding which stories and readers ought to be used with children. The questions are divided into five categories: characters depicted; story philosophy of values; plot development; cultural, social and physical setting; and emotional intensity. (NEC)

This article is designed to help textbook selection committees and personnel make better choices of instructional materials. It outlines the types of information selectors will need about their own districts' curriculum and characteristics and presents a chart for design analysis of this data which can be used in textbook evaluation. (SJL)

School districts should identify those whom new textbooks will affect--including teachers, students, administrators, and support personnel--and determine the needs of each, then negotiate a legally binding service guarantee with the textbook publisher to ensure that services and materials will be provided to meet the determined needs. (PGD)

The "skills trace" is a textbook evaluation process by which an evaluator isolates one skill and reads every reference listed in the index of the teacher's manual. The evaluator then observes how that skill is introduced, taught, practiced, and tested throughout the grades. (Author/DCS)

Presents guidelines for use in examining the comprehensibility of a textbook, questions to ask about the book, and suggestions for using the guide questions. (FL)

Recognizing that textbook adoption procedures and evaluation criteria vary from state to state or district to district, the authors present some general guidelines on screening and evaluation that should prove helpful to any elementary textbook adoption committee. (Author/SJL)

Suggests sources which can guide schools in evaluating textbooks. (MKM)

Intended to help educators select textbooks that represent the highest standards of quality instruction, these guidelines describe major aspects of textbooks--of language arts instruction--considered essential. Following an introduction, the eight guidelines (whose features should be central to a program's design and should pervade the entire…

This handbook has been developed to assist school districts in the adoption of textbooks. The criteria for establishing a textbook selection process are included, as well as selection criteria for specific subject areas. Procedural steps are initially outlined for preliminary activities, book examination procedure, and implementation, and then a…

Explains how an Illinois school district was forced to develop a plan for writing an entire district curriculum in one day and how the plan was effectively carried out. The approach is not presented as a model for emulation but, rather, as an example of what can be done with limited resources. (MD)