SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS Hannah Aliyetti

TRUE OR FALSE?  Most publishers are in it just for the money. True. Some make short term profits that are “safe” versus others that take more risky routes.  There is a high risk involved in publishing elementary to secondary texts. True. $500,000 investment -> 100,000 textbooks  Most states have adopted textbooks to use statewide. False. California and Texas are two examples that do. 20% of total sales of a particular text.

WHAT FACTORS DO THINK MIGHT CONTRIBUTE TO HOW A TEXTBOOK IS WRITTEN/PUBLISHED?

IT MAY OR MAY NOT SURPRISE YOU…  Economical  Political

 Publishers  money Textbooks – necessary for learning and provide a curriculum to follow ECONOMICAL

 In $6 billion entire book industry $1.5 billion elementary, secondary, and college $1.2 billion encyclopedias, reference, etc. $660 million mass market paperbacks ECONOMICAL

 Focus toward intro courses Provide a general framework and hope it sticks Make adjustments later if needed More $$$$$$!  Bad news for publishers: Only 3 out of 10 books, in general, are profitable  Focus toward states that adopt texts (more next!)

POLITICAL  State Adoption U.S. has no government control over real curriculum content States can choose to adopt a single text for a class Approved by committees/agencies Limited numbers can be selected for use in schools  What does the state believe? Creationism vs. evolutionism? – big debate to put in textbooks

 School board  vote  Teachers not normally required to use What other tools do teachers use now? WHO PICKS THE BOOKS FOR THE SCHOOLS?

AS A COLLEGE STUDENT, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT TEXTBOOKS? Heavy, expensive, dull, lack color, etc.

DID YOU KNOW?  55% of college students report most of their knowledge from starting college was due to textbooks.  There is a dispute about how and when to include new research within texts.  There are many ways to save on textbooks: e-readers, open source textbooks, etc.

E-READERS WITHIN THE CLASSROOM textbooks/AED6577F A00E- B2FF469DC809.html#!AED6577F A00E- B2FF469DC809

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?  Do you see e-readers/tablets working or not working within the public school environment?  What are the pros and cons?

WORKS CITED Apple, M. W. (2001) Textbook publishing: the political and economic influences. Theory into Practice, 28 (4), Stambaugh, J. E. & Trank, C. Q. (2010). Not so simple: integrating new research into textbooks. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9 (4),

WORKS CITED Apple, M. W. (2001) Textbook publishing: the political and economic influences. Theory into Practice, 28 (4), Stambaugh, J. E. & Trank, C. Q. (2010). Not so simple: integrating new research into textbooks. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9 (4),