Describes a textbook production project in a Central American country whose goal was the improvement of primary education. Disparities between educational opportunities in developed nations and Third World nations are discussed, and problems with the project that prevented it from meeting its goal are described. (32 references) (LRW)

Describes the development and evaluation of new classroom materials, including a Class 1 textbook, teacher textbook, and eight supplementary readers, designed to teach children in India to read and write in Telugu. Notes that in schools using the new materials, children showed significant learning gains, and teachers and parents were highly…

The textbook industry seems to reflect the larger fragmentation of communication channels. When communication, then called speech, was emerging after World War II as a discipline, the instructor ordered Monroe's "Principles and Types of Speech" or one of its lesser competitors. The choices were limited. With the availability of new…

A study analyzed gender bias in dialogues as presented in three recent, popular textbooks designed for early intermediate or intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. Analysis focused on dialogues intended for practice in speaking. For each textbook, data were gathered on: different male and female character types; number and…

Various perspectives on the highly complex textbook debate are presented in this book, which includes essays by educators, publishers, policymakers, and scholars. Currently, the advocates of higher academic standards, coherence, and quality occupy the strongest position in the debate. Part 1 looks at textbooks from a historical perspective. The…

The current textbook series used in the compulsory cycle's English instruction has been the subject of much criticism, including the suggestions that it is too structurally oriented, contains little interesting or motivating material, has little functional or communicative content, is not Jordanianized but has only a surface Jordanian element, is…

Simplification of reading materials for lower-level English for special purposes (ESP) instruction may make texts comprehensible, but it may not make them much different from texts written 50 years ago. What will make them different is their authenticity, an approach characteristic of ESP, even at the lowest levels. However, authenticity is often…

This document analyzes one chapter of a textbook for college remedial mathematics. This analysis is done by one of the textbook authors. The chapter under discussion deals with fractions. The text authors, writing from a constructivist perspective, attempted to write problems which not only developed specific conceptual and heuristic objectives…

This paper discusses criteria for evaluating foreign language textbooks. First, common textbook dislikes, concerning both content and format, are outlined. Then three desirable characteristics--authenticity, communication, and integration--are discussed at length, divided into subcriteria, and arranged as a rating scale for textbook evaluation.…

This document addresses the complex issues surrounding the production, selection, and use of textbooks in the context of the current educational reform movement. The first section discusses the need for textbook reform, examining the problems associated with their content, presentation, and supplementary materials. The second section discusses the…

Organized in three sections, this report presents the first case study from a project aimed at developing prototypes of ideal textbook chapters. The report (1) discusses the Ideal Text Project, in which a number of researchers in instructional science have been challenged to design a textbook chapter that incorporates the design features they…

THROUGH FIELD WORK, A FOUR MEMBER RESEARCH TEAM STUDIED PERU'S TOTAL DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS IN ORDER TO EVALUATE ITS BOOK ACTIVITY. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES WERE--TO DISCOVER WHO IS CREATING, PRODUCING, AND USING BOOKS, TO EVALUATE PAST ATTEMPTS TO UPGRADE THIS AREA, TO ASSESS CURRENT AND FUTURE PRIORITIES, AND TO DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS…

An examination of current textbooks for freshman English composition courses reveals that authors, editors, and publishers continue to perpetuate outmoded techniques which frustrate, rather than enhance, student writing ability. Most notable of these techniques is the unnecessary emphasis placed on complicated rules of grammar. Such an emphasis…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) of a report concerning the distribution and production of school textbooks in India. All states except Gujarat have nationalized textbook production. While several states have produced more than 150 textbooks through state-controlled efforts, many others have produced only a…

Since history textbooks omit and/or emphasize certain data, students are left with a false sense of history. Although the "hard data" presented in history texts is generally regarded as reliable, the selection and organization of that data is inherently manipulative because other data has been excluded. Because authors do not begin with a…