Examines the effectiveness of the basal reader selection process in one midwestern school district. Concludes that an effective basal reader selection process is one which results in teachers identifying materials that help bring about the type of reading instruction they seek for their classrooms. (MG)

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)

A series of nine booklets was developed to help members of textbook adoption committees, teacher educators, inservice leaders, and policymakers gather information, develop evaluation guidelines, and organize their findings as they select new reading programs and evaluate existing ones. Each booklet focuses on a specific aspect of instruction.…

In response to the problem facing college faculties of choosing textbooks that are both "readable" by students and adequate in content coverage, a text selection process has been developed that can be used with or without the aid of a reading specialist. The first step in the process, a preliminary check, examines each proposed text's publication…

Teachers of all subjects at all levels are constantly searching for helpful new materials, and many corporations and special interest organizations have responded by preparing and distributing free or low-cost materials for "educational" purposes. However, a teacher should preview such materials carefully before using them to determine whether…

To assist educators in defining outstanding resources in children's literature, this study compiled criteria for good books from the writings of twelve selected academicians in the field of children's literature. A further investigation was made to determine if educators considered the same criteria when they selected books for children. In an…

To determine the relationship between particular reading materials used most frequently with students in grades one through six and the amount of progress students made during the 1982-83 school year, a study was conducted by the District of Columbia Public Schools. Nine of the ten reading materials on the approved textbook list were assessed, and…

Serving as the basis for the first administrative complaint alleging sex discrimination in textbooks to be filed under federal law, the findings presented in this report are based on an analysis, made by parents and citizens in a midwestern city, of 12 texts in the elementary reading program of a major publisher. Generally, the findings are stated…

Designed to alert adult basic education teachers to the factors of readability and to suggest ways that some readability problems can be alleviated, this resource unit discusses the problems posed by readability formulas and suggests that teachers must both press for more readable adult texts and question intelligently the products of publishers…

This booklet shows teachers and administrators how their school districts can use the Reading Authority List of the Reading Information System I (I-RIS), an analytic process for making decisions about language arts curriculum materials. Following an outline of I-RIS, pages of the Reading Authority List are accompanied by guidelines for using the…

Designed to simplify the task of selecting the right reading materials for students, this guide provides a method for structuring the work of textbook selection committees. It guides committees through a six-step process involving answering the following increasingly specific questions: what is the socioeconomic background of the students? What do…

This annotated bibliography contains 37 references on reading material selection dating from 1986-1989. Included are guidelines for selection of appropriate materials for various age groups; examples of various reading programs; and conflicting opinions regarding censorship, bibliotherapy, and books for special needs populations. (MS)

Two readability formulas were applied to two math and two reading series textbooks at the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade levels to see whether the publishers' suggested reading levels were accurate. Five samples were taken from each text and compared to the publishers' suggested usage according to grade level. Results showed that although formulas…

Although printed instructional material is the most basic tool for classroom instruction, in the school year 1966-67 a national survey showed per pupil expenditure for textbooks to be only $4.96. Lack of guidelines for expenditures on textbooks, failure to use sound budgetary practices, inadequate teacher involvement in decisions affecting texts,…