Five years later: A survey of state textbook reform

A survey was conducted to follow up the activities of a national project to improve the quality of textbooks available in American schools. The survey found that reform efforts have affected textbook policy in the adoption states throughout the country; nonadoption states, for the most part, have not addressed problems with textbooks. Changes in the adoption states are more incremental than dramatic; more diverse than focused; more in keeping with state cultures than national in character. Certain trends, however, indicate that policy makers continue to believe that their actions can improve the textbooks used in their schools. There is evidence that the adoption processes are increasingly focused on qualitive judgments about books being made by better-prepared and better-supported selectors. In addition, the adoption processes themselves are becoming less constraining on local district decision making through a variety of mechanisms.