Issues in Reading Instruction: The Views and Information Sources of State-Level Textbook Adoption Committee Members

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Reading Research and Instruction

Volume

34

Issue

2

Publication Date

1995

First Page

149

Last Page

171

Abstract

The entire population of current functioning state‐level textbook adoption committee members in 13 state‐level adoption states (141) were surveyed to determine: (a) their perceptions of current issues in elementary reading instruction, and (b) their information sources.

State‐level textbook adoption committee members reported four major unresolved reading issues: (a) the assessment of students' reading progress, (b) the whole language vs. basal approaches, (c) the use of ability grouping for reading instruction, and (d) the use of tradebooks in place of basals. The most frequently consulted reading information sources used by state‐level textbook adoption committee members within the past twelve months included: magazines, newspapers, and newsletter articles, TV and radio broadcasts, and personal contacts with reading experts. The authors conclude that state‐level textbook adoption committee members are aware of the important reading issues of the day, but that they may lack sufficient specific knowledge of the issues or feel legally constrained by current policies, politics, and economics of basal reading adoption to significantly impact any changes or innovations in reading education.

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