Provides a brief synopsis of whole-language characteristics that could be germane to analyses of basal programs. Presents an assessment tool designed to assist teachers, administrators, and curriculum adoption teams in evaluating the degree to which commercial basal reader programs adhere to whole-language characteristics. (RS)

Presents an historical overview of the rise of conservative pressure groups after 1980 and their association with an increase in censorship activities in schools. Discusses the influence of the Reagan administration; library materials selection; textbook selection; secular humanism; and trying to affect the curriculum rather than targeting…

While college composition theory/pedagogy courses are standard offerings in composition and rhetoric graduate programs, specialized basic writing graduate courses lag behind. At the same time, there is a pressing need for highly qualified teachers of nontraditional adult students, especially in community college and adult literacy education…

Textbooks have an enormous influence on the curriculum of schools across the nation. Many issues are taken into consideration when selecting textbooks. Textbooks that present students with a multicultural curriculum are often at the center of debate among school administrators. This journal presents a series of articles based on interviews with…

A study examined 58 home economics education textbooks in terms of reading difficulty, writing style, and interest level for special population learners. The objective was to identify texts, using six different readability formulas that were significantly more difficult and provided educational obstacles to special populations in their preparation…

Argues that black children's books have been neglected by school text book selection committees and librarians, as well as by teachers and parents, but most of all by the young readers themselves, noting that what children have to read has a direct effect on at what point they learn to manage the comprehension of the language as well as its use.…

The unrepresentativeness of school policy discussions, religious fundamentalism, and the local opinion that schools should uphold and inculcate traditional values of home and community are emphasized as the reasons for the West Virginia textbook controversy. (DE)

A discussion of second language reading instruction to develop language proficiency examines the concept of reading proficiency, the reading processes used by native speakers and language learners, the importance of top-down and bottom-up reading, activating predicting and projecting skills, the difference between reading at the peak of one's…

A series of nine booklets was developed to help members of textbook adoption committees, teacher educators, inservice leaders, and policymakers gather information, develop evaluation guidelines, and organize their findings as they select new reading programs and evaluate existing ones. Each booklet focuses on a specific aspect of instruction.…

Censorship efforts are taking place throughout the country in spite of greater activism among anticensorship forces. One of the alarming trends is that many of the censors are now attacking the curriculum of the schools, challenging textbooks in reading, literature, history, science, health, and social studies. The International Reading…

A study followed three textbook adoption committees as they evaluated basal reading programs. The committees used "A Guide to Selecting Basal Reading Programs" (developed at the Center for the Study of Reading) to help them evaluate the quality of instruction in existing programs. Case studies of the three committees sought to address the…

Technical writing instructors lack a framework for evaluating pedagogical materials. One framework for classification divides the pedagogical materials into three groups: those locating their heuristics in form, context, and method. Formal pedagogies (the modes, sentence generation) can produce generic writing, separated from audience, purpose,…

This document is a position statement of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics on instructional materials, including textbooks. First the point is made that the content, organization, and style of instructional materials are among the most important factors influencing outcomes of school mathematics programs. Then five standards are…