Briefly summarizes some recent advances in instructional science and indicates how this knowledge can be used to improve the instructional quality of textbooks and other instructional materials. Procedures for developing a textbook and for evaluating a textbook are provided. (Author/MER)

Discusses issues involved in the selection of textbooks for family life education: diversity of marriage and family course offerings; difficulties in locating appropriate materials; and criteria for text selection. Reviews 14 university texts published in 1987 and 1988. Calls for texts which cover aspects of marriage and family with greater depth.…

Presents three commentaries--by a teacher, a textbook author, and a textbook publisher--examining issues associated with elementary and secondary school textbooks. (MM)

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)

Explains the historical perspective of textbook selection and adoption. Discusses factors affecting textbook publishing. (YDS)

Little research has focused on what factors undergraduate students consider when selecting books at academic libraries. In order to better understand student book choices at Niagara University Library, we chose 11 sets of two books with the same LC subject headings but with other differences and asked students to select one book over another.…

Textbooks have traditionally been the focus of classroom instruction, however, the role of textbooks has been increasingly challenged by various groups. They have raised questions about the quality and content of textbooks in U.S. classrooms. This document provides a program of a 1989 conference that addressed issues related to the role and…

The lack of cultural content, low interest level, and crowdedness of second language textbooks arise because every textbook represents a compromise: between the publisher's need to sell a book and the author's need to address specific pedagogical issues, and between the need to explain grammatical points fully and the need to explain them briefly.…

The most frequently chosen textbooks for introductory sociology courses are analyzed. The study reveals that sociology texts change through incrementation rather than through innovative thinking or by rational decisions as to the best way to present sociology to students. Sociology students are not considered in textbook selection; rather,…

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…

The author suggests that quality selection of textbooks at the local level is more likely to occur when: (1) administrators involve teachers, subject-matter specialists, and others in the selection process; (2) these individuals comprise a committee which makes a regular, continuing study of textbooks; (3) they consider using materials recently…

This article has four purposes: (1) to define sexism relating to foreign language textbooks; (2) to exemplify manifestations of this s and elimination of sexism in future projects. (CHK)

Reviews practical suggestions for social studies textbook evaluation based on research by the Asia Society Textbook Evaluation Project. Teachers should check prices, reading levels, and overall objectives; identify authors and publication dates; and determine underlying assumptions about other cultures depicted in the books. (AV)

Presents procedures for improving school district textbook adoption practices to create a better match between student and texts. Emphasizes the importance of overcoming both the traditional reliance on publishers for textbook adoption rationales, and the frequent aversion of educators toward using technologies such as student textbook readability…

Identification of objectives, review of texts, assessment of outcomes, and consideration of students are suggested procedures for effective textbook adoption. (Author)