Tyranny of the Textbook

An Insider Exposes How Educational Materials Undermine Reforms

By (author) Beverlee Jobrack

Publication date:

22 December 2011

Length of book:

262 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442211414

Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement. In Tyranny of the Textbook, Beverlee Jobrack, retired from educational publishing, sheds light on why this happens. She gives an engaging and fascinating look behind-the-scenes of how K-12 textbooks are developed, written, adopted, and sold. And, perhaps most importantly, she clearly spells out how the system can change so that reforms and standards have a shot at finally being effective.

Did you know?

Reform efforts have focused on writing and rewriting standards and tests, but these rarely have any effect on the core curriculum that is published.

School districts and states don't use effectiveness as a criterion for evaluating and purchasing textbooks.

Publishers don't offer textbooks with better content or the latest teaching methods because teachers don't want textbooks that require them to change their practices.

Teachers report that they don't rely on a textbook in their class, but research shows that they do.

Three companies publish 75 percent of the K-12 educational materials.

Those three companies are producing similar programs with the same instructional strategies, none of which require teachers to change their practices significantly.

Publishers write textbooks for California and Texas. All of the other markets have to make do with books only superficially adjusted for their states.

Introduction

Chapter 1 : The Most Effective Curriculum Materials Are Rarely Adopted
Chapter 2 : The Educational Publishing Business and Profit Motive
Chapter 3 : The Educational Materials Publishing, Players Process, and Priorities
Chapter 4 : Standards and Testing Don't Increase Student Achievement
Chapter 5 : Why Technology Hasn't Improved Student Achievement
Chapter 6 : Why Teacher Education and Professional Development Don't Improve Student Achievement
Chapter 7 : Rising Above the Plateau

A new book from a 25-year veteran of educational publishing argues that improving the curriculum—what actually gets taught in classrooms—is all too often left off the table. And the author, who provides an insider perspective on the world of developing and selecting curricular materials, contends that this neglect is a key obstacle to increased student learning....The book...seems especially timely, given the ongoing challenge we've chronicled here of bringing the common standards in English/language arts and mathematics to life in the classroom....Jobrack offers a behind-the-scenes look at how textbooks and other curricular materials are developed, written, adopted, and sold. The author, who prior to working in publishing spent several years teaching middle school and preschool, argues that the curriculum used in most classrooms is mediocre and typically fails to reflect best practices. The core problem, as she sees it, is a system that has failed to create the right conditions and incentives to ensure that high-quality curricula designed to optimize learning are developed and reach classrooms around the nation....Jobrack outlines a variety of ideas to improve the quality of curriculum and instruction.