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The Textbook Conundrum Revisited
CER Analysis
October 21,2004
A key component of a quality education often gets lost amidst all the talk about school choice, improving standards, and teacher certification. This component is the vital role that textbooks play in a child’s education. More than three years ago, CER wrote about the fact that poor quality textbooks run rampant in most school systems. Individual schools and districts were not able to select their own curriculum and state textbook adoption committees were usually more concerned with a politically correct book than with high quality content. Link here to The Textbook Conundrum to read about some of the gross mistakes found in math books and the slap on the wrist given to publishers. You’ll also find some solutions to the problem.
More recently, researchers Chester Finn and Diane Ravitch have rekindled the awareness over what they call The Mad, Mad World of Textbook Adoption. Follow the link to read about the ill effects this outdated system has on our children.
The latest study finds that in 21 states textbooks are reviewed by state mandated guidelines and schools can only choose from a list of approved books. This selection process simply lines the pockets of 4 publishers that dominate the textbook market. Their influence creates a system that fills schools with poor quality books. There is also a high correlation between the states that have outdated selection procedures and poor performance on the nationally administered achievement test, the National Assessment of Educational Proficiency (NAEP).
Of the lowest ranking 15 states on the 8th grade math portion, 11 states have the restrictive textbook process described and 15 of the lowest 20 states in 8th grade reading fall into this category. The correlation for 4th graders is just as high.
For more see Diane Ravitch’s "What Harry Potter Can Teach the Textbook Industry" and "States should drop textbook reviews".
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