To aid secondary school and college level economics teachers as they select textbooks for introductory economics courses, this article recounts how teachers can use the Flesch Reading Ease Test to measure readability. Data are presented on application of the Flesch Reading Ease Test to 15 introductory economics textbooks. (Author/DB)

Although textbooks structure from 75 to 90 percent of classroom instruction, they are often criticized for contributing to American students' appalling ignorance and for being compendia of inadequately treated topics. This article explores deficiencies in science, social studies, and history and offers remedial actions. The key is a careful…

New teachers and those without a strong background in geography tend to neglect "higher level" thinking, including causal explanations and thinking about reasons in primary school geography. This is a problem that training has yet to address effectively, at least in the UK. It could be that children's textbooks may help such teachers…

Determines whether the textbook "Elements of Writing" is an improvement over "Warriner's" which it replaces. Considers how in determining whether a textbook promotes the curriculum and daily activities that lead to a rich perspective of writing, teachers need to consider what it means for a textbook to focus on writing and what teachers mean by…

Addresses the evolution of the most authoritative and widely used textbook in world literature courses in the United States, "The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces." Questions if the "Norton Anthology" has provided educators who are committed to the teaching of world literature from non-Eurocentric perspectives with a…

Faced with selecting a geometry curriculum for our preservice elementary teacher mathematics course, we used a mixed-methods study to investigate the effectiveness, with respect to student achievement and student perception, of three reform-oriented curricula. ANCOVA results indicate students using one of the curricula scored significantly higher…

Most general ELT coursebooks currently include grammar tasks, suggesting a common view in ELT that learners benefit from form-focused tasks to improve their L2 accuracy. To investigate the nature of such tasks, we developed a framework of consciousness-raising and practice task types, applied it to nine contemporary ELT coursebooks, and thus…

An alternative to readability formulas and achievement tests to let high school students read orally and then recount what they read. Vocabulary scores and oral reading rates were demonstrated as the best predictors of test performance with a minimum oral reading rate of 135 words per minute necessary to profit from textbooks. (Author/DB)

A survey of 62 college and university faculty determined that 77 different textbooks are being used in courses designed for teachers of the gifted. For textbooks most frequently used, information is provided about the textbook content, course levels used for, and basis for selection. (Author/JDD)

Parent involvement can have unforeseen consequences. Article recounts complicated process of choosing a high school biology textbook in Colorado Springs district populated mainly by evangelical Christians. Although controversy arose over creationism's treatment in one text, book discussing evolution as unifying concept of biology was eventually…

Summarizes a study involving three high school English teachers' efforts to integrate multicultural literature into the curriculum. The analysis, highlighting teachers' concerns and decisional influences, argues that teachers must not only select multicultural texts, but they must change their notions of what counts as a text and how they…

Considers what happens to teachers and the curriculum when the philosophical and theoretical bases of subjects to which they are committed undergo significant change. Explores patterns of text choice for 9 teachers across 3 years. Finds all teachers were challenged into rethinking their views of literature. (SC)

In the fall of 1984, the Education Commission of the States (ECS) was awarded a grant from the U.S. Secretary of Education's Discretionary Fund to identify alternative state roles for improving instructional materials in mathematics. To help state leaders define an appropriate and effective role in upgrading these materials, ECS proposed first to…

A teacher discusses the transition from building-level autonomy to unilateral decision making by the central office in her school district. She points out how this change became a step backward for the school. (MD)

A close look at college reading lists and publishers' best sellers reveals that classics remain an essential part of the English curriculum at most schools. The popularity of the Bible and Cliffs Notes of classics confirms the interest in classic works. (SLD)