This report contains a study done at the request of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, which studies public policy issues affecting the state of Wisconsin. Environmental education texts for Grades 6 through 10 were examined for scientific and economic accuracy, objectivity, and balance in accomplishing the following: 1) stating facts that…

This analysis exemplifies Texas as 1 of 22 "adoption states" that select textbooks according to systematic state criteria and interprets this approach in relation to textbook reform efforts. Survey data of state committee members' ranking of criteria during the initial selection phase revealed that the top three criteria were…

A close examination of nine popular speech textbooks was conducted to determine how adequately and accurately they covered researching in the library and its importance in the speechmaking process for the student. Results indicated that the texts did not emphasize critical thinking skills; they also contained an inappropriate emphasis on online…

Those interested in textbook research, theory, and practice need to identify the independent or context variables that influence the making of a textbook--the intervening variables that come into play as textbooks are conceived, developed, and designed--and to show how these impact on the textbook, or dependent variable. To begin, critics and…

A study compared the sex roles depicted in the 1963 Scott Foresman basal series with those of the 1978 series to determine if changes had occurred. A total of 172 stories from 16 readers were analyzed using the Checklist for Evaluating Sexism in Reading. Each story was examined for the number of times males and females were portrayed as main…

This paper is based on the work of Thomas Kuhn, a physicist turned philosopher and historian of science. In his book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolution," he posited a new concept of the nature and history of science and strongly criticized the current textbook tradition of science education. This study analyzed Kuhn's concept of…

Building upon the National Study of Writing in the Secondary School conducted in 1981, this volume presents the results of recent scholarly inquiry into the nature of writing. Background information for the study is discussed in chapter 1, while chapter 2 describes the additional data that have been gathered since the national survey: a study of…

Prompted by the realization that a reference text presents special problems in audience address since there is typically a diverse set of users, a study was designed to provide preliminary data on the use of the reference text, "The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel," a landmark book in the steel industry. Data on the use of the text were…

The report is an evaluation of the economic content and teaching strategies in United States and world history textbooks that are used in grades 11 and 12. The study, conducted by the Center for Economic Education, University of Delaware, was part of a kindergarten through grade twelve assessment of the treatment of economics in social studies…

The role of religion in American society has been ignored by textbook publishers and is not being taught in U.S. schools. The support for the separation of church and state is eroding as a result. Includes a sidebar providing supplementary resource materials on religion for use by teachers. (MD)

Examines the nature and prevalence of author-provided cues to effective processing of introductory college textbooks in psychology and biology. Concludes that the authors of the texts chose cues that would be effective even with relatively passive learners and rarely chose cues that demanded much activity from readers. (SKC)

Addresses the accessibility of texts produced by the Overseas Development Administration. This research analyzes a corpus of texts and shows that factors making the texts difficult include poor linguistic structure, contextual structure, conceptual structure, and unclear operationalisation of the reader-writer relationship. (18 references)…

Argues that effective citizenship requires geographic place knowledge. Recommends that primary students develop place vocabulary through memorization and map activities. Analyzes three social studies (grades 1-4) textbooks for attention to place vocabulary. Finds that none offers a systematic approach to place vocabulary acquisition. Introduces…

Uses the textbook, "The Manufacture of Pulp and Paper," as a case study of technical education in a process industry during the post-World War I period. Illustrates how codification of knowledge about industrial processes served the hegemony of university-trained scientists, the leaders and beneficiaries of this new period of industrial…

Seventy-seven contemporary realistic fiction children's books portraying a dyslexic character were published in the United States between 1993 and 2003. This study examined the texts to determine what types of issues the reading difficulty posed for the character. Texts were analyzed to determine if there was a relationship between the gender of…