This issue of the Interracial Books for Children Bulletin contains three major articles. The first focuses on textbook bias and presents statements presented by the Council for Interracial Books for Children (CIBC) and the National Organization for Women at a National Coalition Against Censorship Conference. The Council strongly supports the…

A pragmatic approach to second language instruction sees the text as a source of content which can be used in a variety of ways; the method is a teacher's decision. As the teacher assumes more of the decision-making role, the textbook becomes the framework on which the course can be built. Techniques for adaptation are given and case studies are…

This study was conducted to test the effect of practice or adjunct questions on learning in a real-world training environment. Subjects were 289 males enrolled in a self-study Naval communications course. Subjects were assigned to one of three experimental groups which received workbooks, or to a control group which did not receive workbooks. The…

This interim report, intended to help textbook authors and publishers, describes the results of a project in which American schools critiqued Soviet textbooks and Soviet scholars critiqued American textbooks. Secondary level history and geography texts were the focus of the study. There are five chapters to the report: Background to the Study;…

This book is the result of a study that investigated the influence of "machismo" (a set of attitudes, beliefs, and behavior that perpetuates the myth of male superiority) in elementary education. The study included (1) a content analysis of textbooks used in Spanish and social studies classes in public and private schools in Puerto Rico…

Two representative samples of expository prose from sixth grade textbooks (one in science and one in social studies) were analyzed for clarity of explanation. Four text criteria were applied to the analyses: structure, unity, coherence, and audience appropriateness. The results of the analysis suggested that many children's textbooks are not…

A content analysis of a 1976 series of primary reading textbooks was conducted to analyze salient factors affecting female role socialization. Examined in its entirety, the series was designed for grades one through six and contained 573 entries and 4,831 illustrations. In each of the textbooks, regardless of grade level, twice as many males as…

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…

THE CONSTRUCTION, REVISION, AND STANDARDIZATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL IN GERMAN IS DISCUSSED IN THIS REPORT AFTER CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO THE METHODS AND GOALS CONNECTED WITH THE PRODUCTION OF LANGUAGE MATERIAL. THE ROLE OF RESEARCHERS, AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENTS IN DEVELOPING COURSE MATERIAL IS OUTLINED. DESCRIPTIONS ARE…

This study determines the extent to which skills of written composition, as defined by a modern rhetorical theory, appear in a selected sample of resources available to teachers. The sources judged and evaluated in the content analysis were textbooks used in preparation of English teachers, textbooks used by students in English classes,…

In teaching children, a clear understanding of the conceptual content to be taught and an understanding of the linguistic means for conveying that content are necessary for the design of the most effective teaching program. The analysis of any given text for conceptual content must begin with an understanding of the language of the text. One…

A model of social studies textbook analysis and evaluation is developed in this paper and is applied to the analysis and evaluation of the content on Hawaii in selected elementary school social studies textbooks. Innovative methods of content analysis and evaluation of textbook presentations were developed and applied to the subject of Hawaii to…

This book, published by the Council on Interracial Books for Children, presents a content analysis instrument for assessing the portrayal of women and third world peoples in U.S. History textbooks. Thirteen textbooks published since 1970 and one which was published in 1967 are examined for their treatment of six groups: women, African Americans,…

Five questions are developed as an analytical scheme by which the basis for knowledge claims in science textbooks can be analyzed. The scheme is based on three conditions of knowledge: (1) if the claim is true (the truth condition), (2) if there is adequate evidence for the claim (the evidence condition), and (3) if the claim is believed to be…

Texts available for French courses in the highest grades are listed according to topics, which include: position of women, today's youth, the language of advertising, French colonialism, holidays and tourism, modern city living, criminality, French politics. Hints for the teacher are included. (Text is in German.) (IFS/WGA)