How Much of the Content in Mathematics Textbooks Is New?

Abstract

The importance of textbooks to the U.S. mathematics curriculum cannot be overstated. The recent rejection by the California State Board of Education of all fourteen text series submitted for adoption illustrates the public perception of the importance of textbooks. Begle (1973) pointed to data from the National Longitudinal Study of Mathematical Achievement to emphasize the important influence textbooks have on student learning, citing evidence that students learn what is in the text and do not learn topics not covered in the book. The National Advisory Committee on Mathematical Education (1975) acknowledged the importance of textbooks as guides for teachers. Fey (1980) emphasized the important influence of texts and pointed out that text content is usually not ba ed on research. Investigators at the Insti tute for Research on Teaching offer evidence that, at the very least, texts are important exercise sources (see Porter et al. 1986). The overall picture is that to a great extent the textbook defines the content of the mathematics that is taught in U.S. schools.