How seven pivotal skills in elementary school mathematics are treated in five current (1981-1983) textbook series for grades 2-4 is described. The report considers the amount of instruction and practice provided, where it is located in the textbook's year-long sequence of lessons, and the extent to which practice is concentrated in one place or distributed across several units of instruction. Seven tables provide a summarized overview, followed by a discussion, for each of the following areas: addition and subtraction with regrouping, word problems involving addition and subtraction, multiplication and division hard facts, word problems involving multiplication and division, fraction recognition, multiplication and division with one-digit multipliers or divisors, and equivalent fractions. Appendix A contains full data on each textbook series at each appropriate grade level, while Appendix B contains lesson time lines which show exactly where the pivotal instruction occurs. (MNS)