ERIC Number: EJ1020145
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014-Feb
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4669
EISSN: N/A
Are History Textbooks More "Considerate" after 20 Years?
Berkeley, Sheri; King-Sears, Margaret E.; Hott, Brittany L.; Bradley-Black, Katherine
Journal of Special Education, v47 n4 p217-230 Feb 2014
Features of eighth-grade history textbooks were examined through replication of a 20-year-old study that investigated "considerateness" of textbooks. Considerate texts provide clear, coherent information and include features that promote students' comprehension, such as explicit use of organizational structures, a range of question types dispersed within and at the end of chapters, and highlighted new vocabulary. Conversely, inconsiderate texts can impede student learning because comprehension is influenced by coherence and clarity between and among new vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, and passages at macro and micro levels throughout texts' chapters. Results of this study indicate areas where today's texts are more clear and coherent than those 20 years ago, and areas where improvements within textbooks are still needed. Implications for practice are discussed.
Descriptors: History Instruction, Textbook Research, Textbook Evaluation, Historiography, Grade 8, Textbook Standards, Vocabulary Development, Readability, Questioning Techniques, Text Structure, Reading Comprehension, Textbook Content
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California; Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A