Book Description

Based on expert review and research, this book provides an innovative standard and guide to social studies textbooks used in kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms for content, style, and design. The standards provide a foundation for individuals to select satisfactory textbooks and to help educators and school boards in the adoption of instructional materials. Chapter 1 addresses the problems of textbook content and style. Chapter 2 discusses the vast business of social studies publishing and the increased complexity of textbook packaging with the movement away from state-level adoption of textbooks. Chapter 3 focuses on the content of social studies textbooks with a comparison of past and present textbooks, a discussion of revisionism and reality, and a look at religion in textbooks. Chapter 4 examines the style and story of textbooks and finds that although the content of past textbooks may be flawed, the prose is superior to recent textbooks. Ideas on narrative, readability, vocabulary, instructional design, history, and style provide ways for textbooks to improve. Chapter 5 addresses the issue of format and proposes clarity and simplicity in technical design of books. Chapter 6 provides an outline to review textbooks for content and style and instructional activities and teacher guidance materials for usefulness. Chapter 7 includes an annotated list of the major U.S. and world history textbooks. (CK)