Reviews several societal, institutional, and practical reasons why the new social studies of the 1960s and 70s failed to supplant traditional textbook instruction in America's public schools. Many of the theoretical underpinnings of the inquiry approach are presented along with critical comments regarding the shortcomings of established expository…

A strategy to help senior high school social studies students overcome reading problems is suggested. Students are asked to use analogies to describe how they feel when they reach a difficult passage in their textbook. The students then use their own analogies to analyze ways to study the text. (RM)

By investigating their own family history, junior high school students see that their families played a part in some of the events chronicled in their history books and were influenced by them. Specific questions to help students study their personal histories are provided, and teaching procedures are suggested. (RM)

In this activity, elementary students analyze and discuss photographs of an American Indian tribe--the Minnesota Dakota family--and compare and contrast the Dakota family with their own family. They learn that families are alike in their basic structure. (RM)

Secondary students read and discuss Richard Sever's book "Lisa H." (Harper and Row, 1985), the story of how a young girl suffering from a genetic disorder that severely disfigured her face and head draws on inner resources to meet the challenge of life. Discussion questions and student activities are suggested. (RM)

These guidelines are designed to help teachers, school administrators, parents, and students investigate and select foreign excursion programs. The guidelines consist of a series of statements concerning the organization and operation of travel or study programs. (RM)

As a social studies educator, Christa McAuliffe was delighted that a "non-science teacher" was chosen to become the first teacher to orbit the earth. Her thoughts concerning the NASA space flight and its meaning for the social studies are discussed. (RM)

Prepared by NASA, this guide contains lessons dealing with space for use in elementary and secondary social studies classes. Activities are many and varied. For example, students analyze the costs and benefits of space travel, develop their own space station, and explore the decision-making processes involved in the shuttle. (RM)

The process through which elementary and secondary textbooks are produced and sold is discussed. Structural changes in the process of bid specification and textbook adoption are needed. In addition, social studies could be the ideal testing ground for a move away from textbook dependency. (RM)

Integrity in the search for truth is not the aim of the textbook business. Pressures are put on publishers by various political groups. The result is monotonous, bland, glossy, vapid textbooks. The system is largely to blame. Choice and competition must be brought into the textbook business. (RM)

As much as 90 percent of classroom instructional time is structured by instructional materials, especially textbook. Research shows, however, that textbooks alone are not enough. Analyses of elementary grade social studies textbooks reveal that the breadth is too wide and the depth too shallow. Specific examples are provided. (RM)

Elementary social studies textbooks in the United States are better today than they have ever been before. Changes in the educational climate, the textbook evaluation process, and the marketplace have led to vast improvements in published materials. (RM)

Ninth-grade social studies students were asked to paraphrase a text excerpt. Results showed that students encounter the most serious reading difficulties when texts fail to take into account students' lack of background information and thus seriously underwrite the ideas. What authors and editors should do to improve textbooks is discussed.

The powerful influence the state of Texas exerts in textbook adoptions throughout the country is analyzed. In revising a text or writing a new book, it is easier for publishers to omit issues that may be controversial than lose out on an adoption and big money. (RM)

A Texas panel created by People for the American Way found that the majority of U.S. history textbooks reviewed represented a significant improvement over history books of the past. However, current books are not without problems, e.g., uneven coverage of minorities and weak treatment of religion as a force in history. (RM)