Textbooks

If today's students want to understand how scientists mapped the human genetic code, they won't get much help from their high school textbooks, a group of scientists and educators said recently. "Textbooks treat the topic piecemeal, leaving out the simple story or obscuring it with needless details," said George Nelson of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The group leveled its harshest critique yet of U.S.

What's the problem with calling the "Founding Fathers" the "Framers" instead or turning the Little Engine That Could from a boy to a girl? What's wrong with stripping Jewish content from author Isaac Bashevis Singer or substituting "American" for "gringo" in an excerpt from Chicano activist Ernesto Galarza's memoirs? Plenty, says prominent education historian Diane Ravitch. In a critical new analysis, the former assistant U.S.

They are not like any history books you've ever seen. American history does not begin with the country's "discovery" by Christopher Columbus. The Italian explorer is not even introduced until the fifth chapter of one of the controversial history texts that received approval Thursday from a key committee of the State Board of Education for use in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Two weeks after a California student activist group accused college textbook publishers of inflating prices, one of the biggest companies in the industry said Wednesday it would introduce a new line of books to reduce costs by at least 25%. The publisher, Thomson Higher Education, said it would cut wholesale prices on about 25 titles scheduled to arrive in bookstores this summer and fall. To achieve the savings, Thomson said, it would use fewer photos and less color in the reduced-price texts.

More than 500 parents and educators from the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District squared off Monday night, debating whether a controversial series of reading texts are stimulating children's interest in literature or, as some parents claim, whetting students' curiousity about witchcraft. The debate focuses on "Impressions," a series of books published by Holt, Rinehart & Winston of Canada Ltd., and used by the district through sixth grade.

A history textbook criticized for omitting Japanese wartime atrocities was approved by educators for use in a public secondary school in Tokyo. The Education Ministry had approved the "New History Textbook" in 2001 amid protests from South Korea and China. Critics say it omits Japanese wartime atrocities, including germ warfare and the use of sex slaves.

Fundamentalist Christians attempting to ban from Alabama public schools 44 textbooks they say promote a godless religion asked a Supreme Court justice Wednesday to assure their case will not die before reaching the nation's highest court. The emergency request asked Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to keep the case alive until the full Supreme Court considers a formal appeal in the controversy.

Brushing aside opposition from scientists and religious groups, the State Board of Education in Austin gave final approval to 11 new biology textbooks that contain Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The board had given preliminary approval to the books. Opponents had argued that weaknesses in the evolution theory were not adequately presented in the books. But scientists and educators argued that the theory was widely believed and a cornerstone of modern scientific research.

The Los Alamitos Unified School District will give away obsolete textbooks and other instructional materials this week. Intended for home and personal use, these materials are not to be resold. They will be given away Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the district's Instructional Materials Center patio, 10295 Bloomfield Ave., Los Alamitos. For more information, call (714) 430-1021, Ext. 462.

Proposed new science textbooks for Garden Grove junior high and high school students are now available for public review, school district officials said. The books, which have been recommended for purchase by Garden Grove Unified School District officials, will be available through March 16. Review times are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Media Technology Center at district administrative headquarters, 10331 Stanford Ave. On March 10, the texts also will be available from 5 to 8 p.m.