"BIG BIOLOGY BOOKS FAIL TO CONVEY BIG IDEAS" > Page 1, 2
Project 2061 to Host Conference on Improving Textbooks
"We have been gratified to hear from school officials around the country who report that our previous evaluations are providing valuable information for textbook adoption decisions," said Dr. Nelson."We're continuing to work with educators to create a demand for effective textbooks that will, in turn, encourage developers and publishers to respond."
Later this year, Project 2061 will convene curriculum developers, publishers, scientists and mathematicians, and educators to plan a strategy for improving textbooks over the next five years. The project is also seeking funds to analyze elementary school materials and to update its database of evaluations on middle- and high-school topics.
About the Evaluation
Two independent teams of biology teachers, science curriculum specialists, and professors of science education evaluated each biology text, along with its teacher guide. The evaluation examines how well the texts are likely to help students learn the important ideas and skills in the widely accepted Benchmarks for Science Literacy (developed earlier by Project 2061) and in the National Science Education Standards. This approach to evaluation was conceived and developed with funding from the National Science Foundation. The evaluation reports will be published on the Project 2061 web site later this year.
The evaluation included the following biology textbooks (in alphabetical order):
- Biology (Miller Levine). Prentice Hall, 1998
Biology: A Community Context. South-Western Educational Publishing, 1998
Biology: Principles & Explorations. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1998
Biology: The Dynamics of Life. Glencoe, McGraw-Hill, 2000
Biology: Visualizing Life. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1998
BSCS Biology: A Human Approach. Kendall Hunt, 1997
BSCS Biology: An Ecological Approach. Kendall Hunt, 1998 Heath Biology. D.C. Heath and Company, 1991
Insights in Biology. Kendall Hunt, 1998
Modern Biology. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1999
Beginning in 1985, Project 2061 has worked to reform science education in grades K-12 so that all high-school graduates become science literate--that is, prepared to live interesting, responsible, and productive lives in a world increasingly shaped by science and technology. The initiative has developed a variety of tools and training for educators to support efforts to translate the established learning goals into classroom activities. Previous evaluations and information for educators and parents can be found at the project's web site at www.project2061.org.
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