In the Netherlands, the quality of the reading curriculum is currently under debate because of disappointing results on national and international assessments of students' reading skills and motivation. In a mixed-method study, we analyzed the content of Dutch textbooks for reading comprehension instruction (i.e., the implemented curriculum) and…

The Component Model of Reading expanded upon the Simple View of Reading by adding an ecological and psychological component. Elements of the ecological component include teacher knowledge, information provided in textbooks, and teacher instructional practices. In this study, the authors examined the extent of teacher knowledge about text…

This study aimed to investigate the readability of the fifth-, sixth, seventh and eighth-grade mathematics course books prepared in deference to the 2017 curriculum and distributed to schools by MEB. This study utilized the descriptive document analysis which is a qualitative research method. Readability of the mathematics course books were…

Textbooks are heavily used in secondary-level content area classes, but previous research has identified numerous challenges for students associated with reading and understanding these texts. While students can learn reading strategies that help them better understand text, it is unclear the extent to which textbooks are written to promote or…

This study examined the thinking processes students engage in while constructing graphic representations of textbook content. Twenty-eight students who either used graphic representations in a routine manner during social studies instruction or learned to construct graphic representations based on the rhetorical patterns used to organize textbook…

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…

The present study relates to a research line in didactics of science that focuses on the function that sign systems or semiotic modes have in communicative interactions in science classrooms. The study was conducted by 20 secondary and university science teachers who belong to the same research group LIEC ("Language and Science…

Examines the differences between divided and alternating patterns of comparison-contrast text structures and reports on the effects these patterns exert on the performance of college developmental readers. Concludes that the type of comparison-contrast structure does not significantly effect comprehension and that, overall, developmental readers…

Determines the extent to which postsecondary reading textbooks provide an awareness of and strategies for the use of both considerate and inconsiderate text features in the reading of content area textbooks. Analyses 46 postsecondary developmental reading textbooks. Finds that substantially more strategies in these texts concern considerate text…

Efforts to improve civic education face a conundrum. On the one hand, students report that they are more likely to learn about democracy and citizenship through reading textbooks than through any other activity and according to the National Education Association, reading is the gateway to learning in all content areas. However, reviews of textbook…

Examines the possibility that part of the problem in the teaching of physical science may lie in teaching-learning materials. Selects 14 chemistry textbooks and 14 physics textbooks in Australia. Analyzes them based on learning theory and scientific literacy. (YP)

Reports the means, standard deviations, and relevant statistics on an examination of the readability of 24 contemporary textbooks that employ a hybrid approach to the basic speech communication course. Discusses some strategies for developing reading skills. (KEH)

Over 700 mathematical textbooks and monographs (especially in Polish) were studied to identify specific features of proof construction. Segmentation, delimiters, and procedure schemes were key items in analysis. Reading strategies used in other subject areas normally do not transfer successfully to mathematics. (PDD)

A study considered the tasks for beginning readers posed by currently available beginning reading programs. A set of guidelines for evaluating beginning reading texts was identified. According to the model used, such texts should be "engaging, accessible, and generalizable." These guidelines were used to examine the literature components…

A study examined the first grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption. (The programs were those of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; Houghton Mifflin; Scott Foresman; Macmillan/McGraw-Hill; and Silver Burdett Ginn). These series are compared with program materials currently in use in the state. The analysis…