Are History Textbooks More “Considerate” After 20 Years?

Abstract

Features of eighth-grade history textbooks were examined through replication of a 20-year-old study that investigated "considerateness" of textbooks. Considerate texts provide clear, coherent information and include features that promote students' comprehension, such as explicit use of organizational structures, a range of question types dispersed within and at the end of chapters, and highlighted new vocabulary. Conversely, inconsiderate texts can impede student learning because comprehension is influenced by coherence and clarity between and among new vocabulary, sentences, paragraphs, and passages at macro and micro levels throughout texts' chapters. Results of this study indicate areas where today's texts are more clear and coherent than those 20 years ago, and areas where improvements within textbooks are still needed. Implications for practice are discussed.

Textbook Characteristics That Support or Thwart Comprehension: The Current State of Social Studies Texts

“…Findings from the current study add to the understanding of reading demands in content classes and have implications for instruction and textbook adoption within schools and for helping teachers support students in the area of reading comprehension. Previous analyses of textbooks have noted weaknesses in textbooks related to a lack of coherence, variability in text structure, inappropriate readability levels, and large numbers of novel vocabulary terms (e.g., Berkeley et al, 2014;Jitendra et al, 2001;Kinder et al, 1992;Stahl, 2003). Recommendations based on these analyses have largely related to how teachers can compensate for deficiencies in the textbook.…”

“…Berkeley et al (c) readability=decoding demands. Procedures were modeled from previous textbook analyses (e.g., Berkeley et al, 2014;Jitendra et al, 2001;Kinder et al, 1992).…”

“…A recent investigation (Berkeley, King-Sears, Hott, & Bradley-Black, 2014) analyzed eighth-grade social studies textbooks to determine how well textbooks have improved over the past two decades. Findings were similar to previous reviews (e.g., Jitendra et al, 2001;McCabe, 1993) in that textbooks were generally weak in global coherence, with the exception of improved chapter introductions and headings that represent the content within sections.…”

“…Findings were similar to previous reviews (e.g., Jitendra et al, 2001;McCabe, 1993) in that textbooks were generally weak in global coherence, with the exception of improved chapter introductions and headings that represent the content within sections. Berkeley et al (2014) also found a wide range of text structures within and across texts but noted that signal words were often ineffective. Unlike previous analyses, the researchers noted that questions were embedded throughout the chapter rather than solely at the end, but like previous analyses, questions were primarily detail oriented.…”

Maximizing PEDAGOGY for Secondary Co‐Teachers

“…For example, a standard from an 11 th grade curriculum is to comprehend the grade level history text proficiently. History textbooks are frequently written at higher grade levels than the students are in (Berkeley, King‐Sears, Hott, & Bradley‐Black, ), and so students with learning disabilities in reading have even more difficulty reading the text in order to comprehend questions or directions for an assignment (Hall, ). Therefore, one co‐teacher takes a small group of students who require verbatim reading and verbally reads an entire history test so that the students focus on comprehension of the content.…”