Using the "Checklist for Evaluating Sexism in Reading," an analysis was undertaken of the Ginn 360 series and the Ginn 720 series of basal readers for sex stereotypes and related language usage. The main characters and illustrations in approximately ten stories at each reading level were analyzed. Of the 116 stories examined, 49 featured…

On the assumption that word frequency in written language as well as children's knowledge of words can provide the basis for a systematic contextual approach to reading vocabulary development, six current reading series and their workbooks (grades two through six) were analyzed for their presentation of prefixed words in context. Results of the…

The image of the Puerto Rican in 33 books written between 1950 and 1980 for young adults was examined. Nine reviewers evaluated the books for their characterization of Puerto Rican socioeconomic status, demographic status, educational attainment, family representation, and male/female roles. The negative image of the Puerto Rican that emerged from…

Three questions are addressed in this study: (1) what is the effect of additional, unexplained content on achievement and perception? (2) is the effect altered by time? and, (3) what is the relation between student achievement and student perception? It was determined that the effect on achievement was not significant but the effect on perception…

An extensive study of sexism in children's books was made based on the rationale that if society is committed to changing sexist attitudes, these changes will appear in the tools used to inculcate children. For the study, a random sample of one hundred trade books for each of two periods, 1950-53 and 1970-73, was drawn from the Library of Congress…

The formal and substantive traits of the television program, "60 Minutes" reflect characteristics manifest in Daniel Boorstin's conception of the "pseudo-event." Through both the verbal and visual imagery presented in the context of a narrative format, this television news magazine illustrates the significance of mass media…

As part of the evaluation of four different versions of a patient package insert (PPI) for diazepam (Valium) created by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the content, organization, language, and design of the PPIs were compared. One PPI was a short prose piece with clear organization that did not particularly highlight warnings or, indeed,…

The introduction of steam-powered ocean navigation in 1838 made possible the faster delivery of foreign news to United States newspaper offices and also gave rise to a new journalism genre--the transatlantic newspaper. Published on one side of the Atlantic and shipped by steamer for consumption on the other side, transatlantic newspapers compiled…

Fifty picture storybooks found on the 1979 Classroom Choices list (a compilation of children's favorite titles) were analyzed to find out what structural characteristics children preferred. A taxonomy developed by Gayle Palmer and Jadzia Nakonechny was used to categorize the books. The analysis reveals the following children's preferences: books…

A project is described which was carried out among Unesco member nations from 1971 to 1974 to investigate multilateral arrangements for the review of high school textbooks in the fields of history, geography, and social studies. Objectives of the project were to provide publishers with feedback about the potential of their textbooks to promote…

The development of instruments to measure the attainment of career education objectives in the middle grades was the objective of this study. The procedures used involved the following tasks: analysis of career education objectives by a jury of vocational and industrial arts teachers; writing test items appropriate for evaluating learning in the…

Four models for interpreting values education strategies are provided. Six examples form curriculum projects are analyzed in light of three of these conceptual models. The first model categorizes values approaches by whether they describe, analyze, or advocate a particular value position. The second model categorizes values approaches by whether…

Solution alternatives in the form of flowcharts are presented for a set of tasks relevant to primary level science curriculum. The fundamental processes to which the steps in the flowcharts refer are briefly defined in psychological terms. These processes represent hypothesized skills underlying performance of the set of tasks analyzed.…

Recent research supports the view that the beginning reader's comprehension is aided by a similarity between written materials and the child's own oral language production. The content of the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) Mod 2 Kindergarten Storybooks was analyzed by surface linguistic form class and compared to an analysis of 5.5- to…

A content analysis of women's roles in "McCalls Magazine" in 1964 and 1974 revealed two profiles of a publication that has been dispensing advice and entertainment for wives and mothers since 1876. The recent women's movement first attracted media coverage around 1968, and a study of "McCalls" before and after this time showed…