The study in this report focuses on four historical periods and five textbooks. The four historical periods are: (1) The European Settlement of North America (1492-1660); (2) Colonial America (1660-1763); (3) The Nation's Founding (1763-1789); and (4) The New Deal (1933-1940). Three of the 5 textbooks are intended for regular high school American…

Given the many inaccuracies in the original "New York Times" 38-witnesses version of the Kitty Genovese story, this study examined the accuracy of this story in current introductory psychology textbooks, 50 years later. Recent studies have shown that there is no evidence for the following three key features of the original story: (1)…

The study begins with the premise of the critical need of increased understanding of others in our global times. Given the intensive and extensive, and often complicated and controversial relations between the United States and South Korea in its modern history, it is critical for South Korean youth to build a more accurate understanding of their…

Research on the inclusion of women in textbooks found severe inequalities in the way women were included in text and illustration. The use of carefully and purposefully selected images in the classroom can address both the lack of images of women in textbooks as well as the stereotypical portrayal of woman in textbook images.

In this paper we share findings of a textbook analysis in which we explored the treatment of segregated education in eight, widely-used secondary United States history and government textbooks. We positioned our findings within the historiography related to the African American school experience which challenges the notion that the lack of…

Describes a study which analyzed 10 current and widely used secondary U.S. history textbooks for their coverage of the Vietnam War to determine their accuracy, completeness, and objectivity. Most of the textbooks studied offered a too sketchy account of the Vietnam War. Certain key topics are often neglected. (RM)

Entire generations of U.S. historians have ignored the role of Hispanics in U.S. history. Yet Hispanics have played major roles from the time of the Revolutionary War to the present. General Bernardo de Galvez, the Spanish governor of the Louisiana Territory during the American Revolution, sent supplies to the rebel armies. When Spain entered the…

The evidence used by historians to demonstrate how Jacksonian democracy has been misunderstood or misinterpreted is discussed. The inequalities of economic conditions and of opportunity which existed in the Jacksonian era are commented on. (Author/RM)

Textbook writers in countries around the world interpret our forefathers' actions in ways that, while often curious, broaden our own perspective. (Editor)

Bias has traditionally pervaded the study of history on the secondary level in both the United States and Russia. The article points out the distorted version of history which is presented to American and Russian students. The following three sources to which the bias is attributed are discussed: ethnocentrism, omission of relevant material, and…

Textbooks treat Afro-American history with a general unevenness, with little attention to Afro-American thoughts and activities. A theme that runs consistently throughout American history is the exclusion of Afro-Americans from the concept of American "people." There should be a two-pronged approach to examining this theme in the classroom. (AM)

Compares a survey of 1973-77 high school texts with a similar survey conducted in 1963. Concludes that the greatest change in the texts' discussions of abolition has been the elimination of the previous idealization of the southern slave owner as a benevolent proprietor. (Author/GC)

Nearly three decades ago, the author started writing an American history textbook. He recently finished the revisions on the ninth edition and here he describes the struggles he had with his publisher, The Macmillan Publishing Company, in developing his history text. (Author/RK)

How many names of women from American history can the average, recent high school graduate come up with? How does this number compare with the number of males she or he can name? These are the kinds of questions that informed Janice Trecker's classic study of U.S. high school textbooks. They were also the basis for the research in Sadker and…

Because American history and social studies textbooks are "official chronicles of the nation's past and influence the next generation's social understanding, content controversies abound. This article discusses the editorial ahistoricism, arid language, and disembodied figures characterizing most texts, reviews past successful models, and suggests…