Examined the graphic representations of male and female characters in primary school textbooks in China, focusing on 1st-6th grade language, ethics, and mathematics. Analysis of textbook illustrations, identification of figures' activities, and classification of adults' occupations indicated that the illustrations stereotyped gender roles in a…

A study examined accommodations and adaptations for students with special needs in four teacher edition textbooks for the elementary and secondary grades. Results found that all mentioned special populations, and suggestions for students with various characteristics took the form of a page or two of general suggestions in the front matter. (CR)

Little research has focused on what factors undergraduate students consider when selecting books at academic libraries. In order to better understand student book choices at Niagara University Library, we chose 11 sets of two books with the same LC subject headings but with other differences and asked students to select one book over another.…

Efforts to improve civic education face a conundrum. On the one hand, students report that they are more likely to learn about democracy and citizenship through reading textbooks than through any other activity and according to the National Education Association, reading is the gateway to learning in all content areas. However, reviews of textbook…

This study compared how selected mathematics textbooks from Mainland China and the United States at the lower secondary grade level represent various types of problems for classroom teaching and learning. The examination of problems was carried out based on the classifications of problem types established in the study, including routine problems…

There are concerns about the quality of religious education teaching in England and a national framework for religious education has been developed to give the subject a firmer basis. This basis comprises knowledge, skills and understanding that involves thinking about and with reasons. Teachers of young children cannot be experts in all subjects.…

A study of 10 freshman composition argumentative textbooks shows that there is a common core, grounded in but not dependent on classical rhetoric (Aristotelian rhetoric in particular). A cursory glance--which is all that many teachers can afford to give such books--might suggest they are all clones. But such is not the case. The authors forefront…

The Fry Readability Formula was employed to determine the reading grade levels of the eight most popular college U.S. history survey textbooks and the ten most popular Western civilization textbooks. It was discovered that the Fry readability technique could not produce consistently close findings on any single college history textbook. Indeed,…

In 1859 Herbert Spencer recognised that the key curriculum issue was not what to include but what to leave out. What to leave out marked a shift in curriculum discourse from a search for universal approaches and absolute principles towards curriculum questions understood as only resolvable relative to particular social contexts. Yet outdoor…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether three procedures-- the cloze, maze, and intact cloze--were reliable and valid measures of readability. One hundred and eighty one sophomores were involved in the study. A passage, An Industrial Giant: Standard Oil Company, from the U.S. history textbook "The People Make a Nation"…

A study to check on the efficacy of the teaching methods used in "Language Basics Plus," a basal elementary language arts program published by Harper and Row, involved a pretest, treatment, and mastery test procedure used with more then 3,000 elementary students. Results of the prepublication learner verification study indicated that the…

The purpose of the study was to determine the readability level and the level of involvement for selected science textbooks for grades 7-10. A review of related literature concerning readability scales and the Romey Index is included. Thirty secondary science texts were evaluated using the Fry Readability Graph and Romey's Involvement Index. The…

Thirty-two master teachers, working in grade-level and instructional area groups and using an evaluation instrument developed by a university center for career development and occupational preparation, rated 66 sets of career education materials by 15 criteria, such as organization; clarity of objectives; appropriateness to grade level; and…

This report conducted for the Association of American Publishers, Inc. on the college textbook market provides the industry with operationally useful information and trend data on the prevailing attitudes, needs, purchasing and usage patterns of the prime users of college educational materials--the faculty and the students. Detailed findings…

John Saxon's incremental development model has been proclaimed as a superior teaching strategy for mathematics. This study evaluated the Saxon approach and textbook using 276 Algebra I students in experimental and control groups. The groups were compared in cognitive and affective areas. Results are presented. (Author/MT)