Presents a set of "neutral" language guidelines as a way of pointing out the problems of using language guidelines in the first place. (JL)

Budget cuts and textbook availability problems precipitate an English department chairperson's remembrance of the English curriculum as it was in the past. (RL)

Twenty-eight prospective English teachers at a large midwestern state university participated in this study of what they believe literature to be and what criteria they apply in choosing texts they would teach. Although the prospective teachers reported that they had not been taught explicit criteria for evaluating texts, they had no difficulty…

Each issue in this set of newsletters is devoted exclusively to reviews of a science textbook. Each text is reviewed by two scientists and one science educator. Textbooks reviewed by issue are: (1) "Scott, Foresman Biology" (1988); (2) "Heath Life Science" (1987); (3) "Prentice-Hall Biology" (1987); (4) "Scott, Foresman Life Science" (1987); (5)…

This textbook evaluation instrument is provided to assess (1) content properties; (2) instructional properties; (3) physical properties; (4) readability; and (5) other properties such as cultural mix, organization of text, and suitability for various grade levels in secondary level world geography and global studies textbooks. For the first three…

Recent research demonstrates that one in five school districts is under pressure to purge objectionable books from its libraries and classrooms. This paper briefly summarizes literature and court decisions dealing with censorship in the schools and describes a study of censorship in Illinois schools. In the study, a 68-item questionnaire asked 200…

Suggests resources useful in selecting, recommending, and ordering books that are regularly used and relied upon by English teachers. (RB)

The controversy between the Evolutionists and the Creationists is presented. The impact of the Creationists' activity on public school science teaching is discussed with particular emphasis on the selection of biology textbooks by school districts. (SA)

Discusses and presents data from an examination of coverage and treatment of Native Americans in 20 secondary United States history textbooks published in the 1970s. Findings indicate that publishers are moving away from the more established historical interpretations of U.S. history and including content which promotes multiethnic education. (DB)

Discusses 11 documents indexed in the ERIC system dealing with course organization, adolescent literature, course guides, unit plans, and ethnic studies, as these documents relate to multitext teaching. (DD)

A study involving 81 eighth-graders found that those who used a conceptually organized (C-O) history textbook which presented content more conceptually and also provided multiple means to assist student's learning of history information, did significantly better on multiple choice questions than did students using a topically organized textbook.…

In July, 1982, letters were sent to the social studies coordinators in all 50 states requesting a list of high school geography texts approved for use in those states and information on the selection process used. The response rate was 100%. Information acquired from the 20 states that have statewide adoption policies constitute the basis of this…

In 1985, People for the American Way released its first review of biology textbooks that was inspired by the ongoing controversy over whether or not (and how) evolution should be taught in public school classrooms. The purpose of this review is to gauge how successful the response of educators and scientists have been at convincing publishers that…

A checklist of criteria for evaluating textbooks in occupational education is presented, providing a rapid and effective way for instructors to assess occupational textbooks. The checklist encourages occupational education instructors and administrators to look at the qualities of textbooks that go beyond the subject content and readability levels…

The survey step in the SQ3R study reading strategy consists of scanning the reading material and its organizational features to establish the nature/magnitude of the reading task and to formulate guidelines for accomplishing that task. When the chapters of six history textbooks were examined for the presence, absence, and number of organizational…