Describes the Instructional Strategy Diagnostic Profile (ISDP)--an analytic tool that facilitates the evaluation and revision of existing instruction and the design of new instruction--and recounts its use in comparing two textbooks to determine the most appropriate for an organic chemistry course. (JEG)

Compares the advantages of multitext and single text approaches to literary study and advocates the multitext approach. (DD)

Textbook makers, buyers, and users are all suffering from censorship by vocal minorities. (DD)

Aims to conceptualize issues of text selection and censorship in different terms from those in which it has been constructed by Australian media. Asks how texts get used in classrooms and about the nature of classrooms as sites for negotiating issues of meaning and value. Argues for a culturally inclusive curriculum that is responsive to students'…

At some point in an educator's professional life, he may be asked to serve on an awards committee for current publications in his field. An educator's concern then is on how to do it without bias, and more importantly, how to do it when the texts may be very different from each other. One text may be theory-based; one may be a textbook; and…

Mathematics textbooks are critical tools for student learning in American classrooms. Teachers use them daily to plan and deliver lessons, and students use them in class to explore and learn mathematics. Given textbooks' potential to support student learning, it is important to understand how they are developed. While pressure is growing on…

A college educator (trained in composition) encountered some problems when he began teaching an introductory literature course. In the first year of the course, he used a fiction anthology as his textbook. The class examined one story at a time, and attempts to compare readings seemed forced. The teacher realized that anthologies are narrow in…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Choosing the textbook for an introductory course can be a frustrating, haphazard, and time-consuming process. This year, members of the sociology department at Mercy College tried a selection process that eliminated at least the first two of those three problems. To begin, the department sent…

Pressure is mounting in California to abolish state approval of school textbooks and grant full autonomy to local districts. (Author/MLF)

A questionnaire was developed to determine the content, mode of instruction, approach, and textbook selection of instructors of introductory economics courses. The survey was distributed in 1974 to 143 economics instructors at two- and four-year colleges in Illinois. Results are presented here, and recommendations are made. (Author/NHM)

In connection with two French grammatical problems (des bons amis - de bons amis; quatre-vingts-deux ans - quatre-vingt-deux ans), there is a discussion of consideration of the efforts toward reform of French orthography and of the decree of 1901, still in effect in France, for the choice of teaching materials for basic courses in "French as a…

Ninety-three French textbooks were examined to produce this overview of content and methodology; the analysis indicates the books have introduced few innovations and follow traditional modes of presentation. (CK)

One of a series dealing with current issues affecting language arts instruction, this paper brings into focus some of the issues surrounding textbooks in the schools so that informed decisions can be made regarding textbook selection and use. The major portion of the paper explores professional opinions regarding textbooks, noting the following:…

A three-part review process is proposed as an aid to textbook selection for college courses. After an introductory discussion of the importance of developing standards and criteria for selecting course texts, the three-phase process is presented. The initial phase involves the establishment of departmental criteria for textbooks, which may be…

The problems of textbook selection and related social and political issues are presented from the point of view of an involved school administrator. (DW)