Presents guidelines for use in examining the comprehensibility of a textbook, questions to ask about the book, and suggestions for using the guide questions. (FL)

Describes textbook bias found in Canadian social studies textual materials prejudiced against the American Indian and lists 10 criteria to be used in evaluating texts. (HOD)

Presents criteria to help teachers choose textbooks for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) composition students, based on how well each text teaches users to write argumentative essays (a form foreign to many ESL students). Evaluates 14 textbooks using these criteria. (SR)

Gives a list of guidelines for reading specialists to use in evaluating content area textbooks. (MKM)

Presents ERIC documents that examine what goes into the textbook selection process, the outside influences on book selection, and some criteria that are used in the selection of books. (MKM)

Responds to the challenge of textbook censors that content is critical to the process of value formation by presenting other determinants: the theme of the text, the values of the reader as related to that theme, and the teaching strategies implemented. (AEA)

Reviews 25 college reading skills textbooks for their context skills presentations. Provides six suggestions for revising the instruction of contextual skills to college students. (RS)

Asserts that students should be encouraged to be risk takers and derive their own meaning from expository text. Discusses the impact of several reading strategies on the reading attitudes and classroom performance of college-level developmental readers. (PRA)

Reports a random sampling of the frequency and types of connectives used in content area textbooks. The results suggest that a knowledge of connectives fosters comprehension in reading and speaking. (TO)

Presents a checklist developed by the International Reading Association's Committee for Basic Education and Reading, which is designed to help teachers select materials to meet the special needs and interests of adult basic education learners and to make objective judgments based on a clear evaluation process. (MKM)

Provides a check list of evaluation criteria to supplement the SMOG readability formula in choosing new content area textbooks. (Author/KS)

Describes a technique for training teachers to analyze textbooks that could be used either in teacher training classes or inservice workshops. (HOD)

Discusses the difficulty of determining the readability of textual material. (MKM)

Describes a method of ranking the concepts in science texts in terms of these criteria: importance to the curriculum and student interest; the development of the concept in the text; and the level of background knowledge expected of students. Argues that these ratings should guide instruction. (RS)

Reports the results of a survey of 640 high school biology teachers indicating that they may not be aware of the positive effects of prereading activities and other strategies for enhancing students' comprehension of text. (AEA)