This brief paper presents a guide to detecting and addressing sexist bias in books and other instructional materials. Some research studies that identify sex bias in curriculum materials are cited. It is noted that evidence of sexism is present in all areas; by words and pictures textbooks convey that men act in different, superior ways from women…

This publication is designed to assist elementary and secondary schools in strengthening instruction by identifying and eliminating sexual stereotyping in educational materials. The model illustrates some of the ways in which curriculum and instructional materials may be developing sex stereotyping, offers suggestions for avoiding or correcting…

Holt, Rinehart and Winston's "The Treatment of Sex Roles" is summarized here. These guidelines are aimed at development of instructional materials without sex bias, and they deal with role models, subject matter, and language. (DS)

This essay emphasizes the impact of instructional materials on the development of the individual's self-esteem. It provides guidelines and checklists for the evaluation of sexism and racism, as well as strategies for increasing awareness in the teaching-learning process to help counteract these biases. (Author/DS)

Discusses the fact that, although publishers have acknowledged the problem of sex bias in textbooks in the United States, guidelines lack specifics, timetables, and procedures for monitoring content and enforcing compliance with the guidelines. (MB)

Instructional materials are a powerful mechanism for providing students with a vision of what is important in the world around them. Examines the ways that women have been stereotyped in instructional materials and suggests evaluation criteria for preventing use of stereotyped textbooks. (Author/RK)

Teachers need to be aware of the stereotypes that their textbooks promote. An informal survey of the illustrations in a sampling of third grade textbooks revealed numerous examples of ethnic and sexist stereotypes. A knowledge of children's learning patterns can help teachers lead their students away from stereotypes by introducing them to…

This report is the first in a series of three executive handbooks designed to help school administrators move toward the goal of sex equality. Findings are presented from some of the studies of sex stereotyping that have been made of the content, illustrations, and language in textbooks and children's trade books. Suggestions are offered to…

Arranged in three sections, this pamphlet outlines publishers' guidelines for developing nonsexist instructional materials for elementary and secondary school use. Section 1 details the following strategies for expanding and balancing the role models of both sexes in instructional literature: illustrations reflecting a variety of dress and…

Textbooks currently in use in South Bend School Corporation were examined in order to determine the extent to which traditional role stereotypes were being portrayed. This report contains evaluations of curriculum materials in reading, spelling, mathematics, art, writing, social studies, and literature. The "Holt Basic Reading Systems," the most…

One of a series of instructional packets to aid schools in reducing sex stereotypes, this inservice guide for use with school personnel is designed to increase their awareness of ways textbooks and instructional materials contribute toward limiting student options. Included are avenues personnel can take to counter stereotypical messages relayed…

Seven representative elementary school textbooks used in the United States were examined, as part of an international study of sex-stereotyping in textbooks, to determine whether the depiction of males and females was qualitatively and quantitatively sex-equitable. The analysis used a gender models checklist developed by M. Gonzalez-Suarez (1986)…

The objectives of this workshop module are to increase teachers' awareness of the sex role stereotyping that exists in language and instructional materials and to provide instructors with strategies for increasing student awareness of sex bias and for countering the effects of stereotyping in their classroom materials. Workshop handouts for use in…