Textbooks not only transmit key cultural information but also employ a distinctive style and language, and these intrinsic structures maintain the textbook as the official valid knowledge required of the student. The student has a particular view of schooling which conditions the learning process and teaching decisions. The teacher emphasizes…

To determine how textbook publishers have changed the content of teachers' manuals designed to accompany basal reading series, a study was undertaken to examine manuals published by two different publishers since the l920s. Ten fifth grade manuals were reviewed for physical characteristics, tests, number of stories, instructional suggestions,…

To measure the effectiveness of the Basic Skills Education Program (BSEP) reading curriculum--eight reading skill modules employing military job-specific reading materials and used by the U.S. Army in Europe (USAREUR)--and to provide information for improving it, a study examined 183 soldiers from 38 European posts who were enrolled in the BSEP…

This manual was developed for use of participants in 10 workshops that were designed to help teachers to identify and overcome sex and ethnic bias. The workshops provide a framework for consideration of the often subtle ways that bias may be an inherent element in textbooks, instructional materials, and teachers' attitudes and behaviors.…

Outlines are presented for teacher workshops on identifying and overcoming biased attitudes reflected in current literature and classroom instructional materials. Each session includes: (1) a needs assessment activity or exercise to express initial concerns; (2) a lecture introducing new concepts and activities; (3) activities providing an…

This paper begins with a discussion of reasons why the Uganda College of Commerce was established and how the curriculum for the Uganda Diploma in Business Studies (UDBS) was developed. A historical survey of the course development is presented, focusing on the course objectives. The achievements and non-achievements of the UDBS are analyzed,…

In summer 1981, at the request of Alberta Education, an evaluation study was undertaken of all learning resources presently listed in "Alberta Social Studies Learning Resources for Elementary Schools" and "Alberta Social Studies Learning Resources for Secondary Schools," including recommended and required resources, as well as…

Eight activities are designed to help high school students learn about equal education and employment opportunities and expand their life roles. Introducing the unit are a knowledge quiz, which helps students analyze their attitudes about work, family, and sex stereotyping, and a work force quiz, which helps them increase their awareness of the…

A study examined 20 beginning college interpersonal or relational communication textbooks to determine the degree to which they dealt with any or all of 10 specific communication competencies. The 10 competencies, targeted from numerous other evaluation systems and scales, are as follows: (1) describing feelings, (2) initiating and maintaining…

One of a series of resources for teaching sociology at the postsecondary level, this volume contains course aids and sample syllabi for courses in educational sociology. Material is divided into six sections. Section I contains background information about the guide. Section II describes the nature of sociology of education courses. The definition…

Results of a textbook study to determine what U.S. secondary school students are learning about contemporary Europe are presented, and highlights of the "Conference on Improving the Teaching of Contemporary Europe" at which the study was presented are summarized. A sampling of secondary school geography, world history, and U.S. history textbooks…

The instruction provided by two beginning reading programs (the Ginn 720 and the Palo Alto 1973 reading programs) are analyzed and compared in this paper on the basis of such factors as phoneme-grapheme correspondence and phonics instruction, sight word learning, and the development of reading comprehension. The comparison focuses primarily on the…

A study examined the ways that basal readers portrayed the family. It was expected that the readers would give only token representation of both parents working or of one-parent or mixed marriage families, and that very few portrayals of reading or of reading materials would be found. Eight basal readers from 6 publishing companies for grades 1…

This reading resource catalog is intended for teachers, administrators, and others looking for effective reading programs. The first section of the catalog presents six summaries of recent reading research with direct application for teaching practice. Topics covered are: choosing a textbook to improve student comprehension, using the cloze…

Removal from the schools of educational material objectionable to American Indians is a matter of concern to teachers, parents, Indian communities and organizations, and educational decision makers. To appeal to a wider market, publishers often produce materials favoring the interests of the predominant society. Thus, textbooks and other…