Textbooks in American Society: Politics, Policy, and Pedagogy(SUNY series, Frontiers in Education)

In recent years, textbooks have been widely criticized for low standards, lack of imaginativeness, and insensitivity to racial and gender issues. Increasingly, they are cited as another "weak link" in American public education. This book goes beyond the headlines to examine how textbooks are produced, how they are selected, and what pressures are placed on textbook authors and publishers. The book focuses on the relationship of the textbook to the educational system and includes important issues such as the politics of textbook policy, the determinants of textbook content, the role of textbooks in educational reform, and the process of selection at the state level. The authors offer current research on textbook policy including perspectives from those directly involved with textbooks-from several thoughtful analyses by textbook editors and publishers to the views of California's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Philip G. Altbach Part I: Social and Political Issues 1. Regulating the Text: The Socio-Historical Roots of State Control Michael W. Apple 2. The Politics of Textbook Policy: Proposing a Framework Kenneth K. Wong and Tome Loveless 3. The Determinants of Textbook Content Sherry Keith 4. The New World of Textbooks: Industry Consolidation and Its Consequences Gilbert T. Sewall and Peter Cannon 5. Constitutional Challenges to Textbooks Edward J. Larson Part II: Reform and Improvement 6. Nineteenth Century Policies for Twenty-First Century Practice: The Textbook Reform Dilemma Harriet Tyson-Berntein and Arthur Woodward 7. California's Experience with Textbook Improvement Bill Honig 8. State-Level Textbook Selection Reform: Toward the Recognition of Fundamental Control J. Dan Marshall 9. American Textbook Reform: What Can We Learn From the Soviet Experience? Howard Mehlinger Part III: From the Trenches: Publishers and Authors 10. From the Ivory Tower to the Bottom Line: An Editor's Perspective on College Textbook Publishing Naomi Silverman 11. Textbook Writing and Ideological Management: A Postmodern Approach Joel Spring Part IV: Literacy and Reading: Case Studies 12. Basal Reading Textbooks and the Teaching of Literacy Allan Luke 13. Basal Readers and the Illusion of Legitimacy Patrick Shannon Part V: International Perspective 14. The Unchanging Variable: Textbooks in Comparative Perspective Philip G. Altbach Contributors Index

About the Author :
Philip G. Altbach is Professor and Director of the Comparative Education Center Gail P. Kelly was Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Organization, Administration, and Policy Hugh G. Petrie is Dean of the Graduate School of Education; and Lois Weis is Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education, all at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Review :
"This book is particularly important in light of the recent reform movement in education. It is clear that textbooks and policies affecting their creation and distribution will be undergoing major scrutiny in the future."-Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr., University of Miami