Paraeducators have become an important member of educational teams for students with disabilities. Although paraeducator supervision is mandated in federal law, numerous studies have noted challenges with paraeducator supervision. High quality teacher preparation, including use of materials that provide paraeducator focused content, is one way to…

Bror Saxberg is Chief Learning Officer for Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC) and a leading global provider of educational services, offering post-secondary education, test preparation, professional training, and K-12 programs. Saxberg is responsible for the research and development of innovative learning…

In communities including New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Chicago, educators are creating alternative schools for struggling students that employ online credit-recovery programs as a core portion, or all, of their curriculum. The growth in online learning generally, including blended learning, has fueled the proliferation of computer-based credit…

Chris Franklin is Senior Lecturer, Undergraduate Coordinator, and Lothar Tresp Honoratus Honors Professor of Statistics at the University of Georgia. She is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and received the USCOTS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. This interview took place via email on August 16, 2013-October 9, 2013. Franklin…

A reasonable expectation of textbooks used in Christian schools is that they should regularly incorporate biblical content. It is also reasonable to expect the biblical content to be integrated--not segregated--to influence matters such as worldview, biblical relevance, character, and integrative skills. This expectation was tested via a…

The author teaches at a small, rural school district (K-12 enrollment is 280) in New York's northern Catskill Mountains. According to him, there is no industry in this area and little in the way of commercial business, so when they need to raise money for "extra expenses," it requires a lot of effort. When the cost of publishing their…

Examines the social pressures that are brought to bear on textbook publishers and that influence them to serve as their own censors in the selection of material. (JOW)

Small publishers expect to make a profit with hundreds rather than thousands of products; they do not have to strive to please the broad middle of the consumer population. However, limitations plague small publishers, e.g., they cannot afford giveaways and discounts or to print a teacher's guide in full color. (RM)

All major textbook companies conform to preferences of larger educational markets (California, Illinois, New York, Texas, and Florida) and exercise self-censorship to appease dissenting factions and avoid alienating pressure groups. Recent censorship controversies have involved sanctity of family, criticism of free enterprise system,…

Discusses the use of electronic books (E-books), digitized versions of books that can be read on a desktop, laptop, handheld device, or a dedicated e-book reader, in education. Highlights include use in elementary and secondary schools; available content suitable for education; standards; pertinent Web sites; and the role of textbook companies and…

A father and music teacher describes his frustrations when trying to get Prentice Hall Publishers to correct over 2000 factual errors in his daughter's seventh-grade science textbook. Textbooks featuring pictures of African-American women working in science labs may incorrectly portray scientific experiments. (MLH)

Science textbook publishers, engaged in their own struggle for survival, are catering to creationists. (Author/JM)

Covering book publishing, magazines, educational journals, and other educational markets, this book offers practical, step-by-step methods for taking a teaching idea from the classroom to the printed page. The main focus of the book is on infant/preschool through the sixth grade; however, the major topics are also relevant to those writing at the…

The textbook dominates curricula at the elementary, secondary, and even college levels. The ideological, political, and economic sources of its production, distribution, and reception are examined. (RM)

Textbook publishers are under attack for producing books that are superficial in content and oversimplified or confusing in language. They respond that their products are the inevitable result of applying the many textbook selection formulas to book production. Efforts by educators to improve textbooks are currently being organized. (PGD)