Focuses on books, booklets, and position papers that would be useful reading for educators involved in making decisions about selecting materials for schools. Discusses guidelines for judging and selecting textbooks and studies and readings on textbooks. (PRA)

Lists the advantages of using paperbacks in elementary schools and libraries and gives a directory to some 70 publishers of paperbacks for children. (PF)

Through interviews with 145 children enrolled in two public schools, this study sought to answer five questions: (1) Do children consider page size, type, and illustration position important in their selection of tradebooks? (2) Are there differences between grades, sexes, and among reading ability groups in their consideration of the importance…

Major investigations have shown that children care little for social studies as a school subject. Therefore, a closer look was taken at social studies textbooks in order to ascertain if the reading difficulty of the texts was an important cause behind the children's dislike. This study evaluated the reading levels of 41 social studies texts…

Language Arts teachers must be vigilant in their selection of books for students because of racist and sexist stereotypes. (Author)

Notes that boys continue to be portrayed in reading materials in activities stereotypically associated with males, such as sports, adventure, and leadership; suggests that reading materials are needed that show boys in nurturing and expressive roles as well. (MKM)

Outlines the usefulness of a book club for elementary school teachers and reading supervisors on the topic of the teaching of reading. Discusses choosing topics for discussion, organizing the club, and forming a community of learners. Stresses the importance of reading across the curriculum. Argues that such a reading club can also assist teachers…

The eight books examined in this study were the most recent editions of: Observing People and Places; Exploring Our Needs; At Home in Our Land; The Social Sciences: Concepts and Values; Communities and Social Needs; Learning About Communities: One Plus One; Investigating Man's World: Local Studies; and, Communities and their Needs. A group of six…

Argues that reading materials should fit the criteria of relevance, interest, and usefulness if children are to get maximum benefits from reading instruction. (FL)

Outlines three constructs of text difficulty: text-based (objective), performance-based (behavioral), and a combination of the two (subjective). (HOD)

The instructional textbooks for history-social science, K-8 grades, recommended for adoption in the state of California are described in this report. The rationales for recommendation of particular texts are provided, as well as those behind the decision not to recommend other materials. A number of special issues dealt with by the adoption…

Instructional materials are usually selected by classroom teachers. Little is known about what criteria they use in making these choices. Most of the literature recommends, instead, the attributes to be used. This study employs a qualitative approach to examine one teacher's thinking about her selection of materials. Fundamental to her thinking…

The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) evaluating the conservation content in the elementary, intermediate, and secondary grade textbooks used in 13 western states, and (2) researching, recording, and reviewing the textbook selection procedures. Part I indicates that textbooks are selected either by a state agency or the local school…

The purposes of this study were to determine the social studies series adoption policies of midwestern school districts and to identify the most popular and successful series in use. Data were provided by elementary principals in 186 randomly selected school districts. Available from: Department of Social Science Education, University of Georgia,…

Reviews articles in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Volume 5, Number 1, 1990. Topics include young children's oral language; effects of realistic versus nonrealistic play; textbook choice; written response to stereotypical and nonstereotypical story starters; and computers and kindergarten language development. (DG)