Introduction: The market for digital children's books is growing steadily. But the options vary in terms of quality and parents looking for suitable apps for young children can get overwhelmed quickly. This study seeks to answer how families search for suitable applications and what aspects are important to them while selecting. Method:…

Although teachers have been encouraged to use tradebooks as part of the science curriculum, not much is known about the factors--including teachers' assumptions--that influence the decisions about the books they choose to use. This paper explores some of these issues by asking groups of elementary school teachers to choose from a large set of…

Through interviews with 145 children enrolled in two public schools, this study sought to answer five questions: (1) Do children consider page size, type, and illustration position important in their selection of tradebooks? (2) Are there differences between grades, sexes, and among reading ability groups in their consideration of the importance…

Outlines three constructs of text difficulty: text-based (objective), performance-based (behavioral), and a combination of the two (subjective). (HOD)

Instructional materials are usually selected by classroom teachers. Little is known about what criteria they use in making these choices. Most of the literature recommends, instead, the attributes to be used. This study employs a qualitative approach to examine one teacher's thinking about her selection of materials. Fundamental to her thinking…

Reviews articles in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education, Volume 5, Number 1, 1990. Topics include young children's oral language; effects of realistic versus nonrealistic play; textbook choice; written response to stereotypical and nonstereotypical story starters; and computers and kindergarten language development. (DG)

Fourth and sixth graders were engaged in the process of textbook selection in an effort to increase the understanding of student experiences with materials that have a substantial influence on curriculum and instruction. Results indicate that children do not, as a group, share a comprehensive point of view about basal readers. (SH)

Summarizes six studies, including research on the connection between children's writing and meaning, symbolic play with realistic props, the preschooler's developing sense of theme, the process of engaging children in textbook selection, children's use of stereotyped writing, and effects of computerized picture-word processing on kindergartners'…

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…

After adoption of a new elementary mathematics series in a school district, mathematics scores increased by an average of 9 points in 6 schools; however,in the district's other 11 elementary schools, the average score dropped 11 points. Without exception, schools where students showed improvement had teachers who had taken inservice training on…

Finds that state-level textbook adoption committee members reported four major unresolved reading issues: (1) assessment of students' reading progress; (2) whole language versus basal approaches; (3) ability grouping; and (4) use of tradebooks in place of basals. Suggests that the members may lack sufficient specific knowledge of the issues to…

The process of evaluating and selecting basal readers has long been a primary concern for educators. Educators directly involved with textbook adoptions have expressed several concerns, including: time pressures on evaluators; lack of training for evaluators; concerns related to publishers; and correlations with state or district curriculum.…

To determine the relationship between particular reading materials used most frequently with students in grades one through six and the amount of progress students made during the 1982-83 school year, a study was conducted by the District of Columbia Public Schools. Nine of the ten reading materials on the approved textbook list were assessed, and…

Serving as the basis for the first administrative complaint alleging sex discrimination in textbooks to be filed under federal law, the findings presented in this report are based on an analysis, made by parents and citizens in a midwestern city, of 12 texts in the elementary reading program of a major publisher. Generally, the findings are stated…

The research reported in this paper identifies the "core curriculum" and "optional curriculum" suggested by widely used textbooks of elementary school mathematics and describes the influence of each on teacher autonomy in selecting the content of instruction. Preliminary analyses suggest that the "core curriculum" is generally consistent with…