Tyranny of the Textbook

An Insider Exposes How Educational Materials Undermine Reforms

Beverlee Jobrack

Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement. In Tyranny of the Textbook, Beverlee Jobrack, retired from educational publishing, sheds light on why this happens. She gives an engaging and fascinating look behind-the-scenes of how K-12 textbooks are developed, written, adopted, and sold. And, perhaps most importantly, she clearly spells out how the system can change so that reforms and standards have a shot at finally being effective.

Did you know?

Reform efforts have focused on writing and rewriting standards and tests, but these rarely have any effect on the core curriculum that is published.

School districts and states don't use effectiveness as a criterion for evaluating and purchasing textbooks.

Publishers don't offer textbooks with better content or the latest teaching methods because teachers don't want textbooks that require them to change their practices.

Teachers report that they don't rely on a textbook in their class, but research shows that they do.

Three companies publish 75 percent of the K-12 educational materials.

Those three companies are producing similar programs with the same instructional strategies, none of which require teachers to change their practices significantly.

Publishers write textbooks for California and Texas. All of the other markets have to make do with books only superficially adjusted for their states.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-8108-9623-9 • Paperback • November 2017 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4422-1143-8 • eBook • December 2011 • $30.00 • (£22.99)

Subjects: Education / Curricula, Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General, Education / Current Issues

Tyranny of the Textbook

An Insider Exposes How Educational Materials Undermine Reforms

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Educational reforms and standards have been a topic of public debate for decades, with the latest go-round being the State Common Core Curriculum Standards. But time and again those reforms have failed, and each set of standards, no matter how new and different, has had little impact on improving student achievement. Why? The textbooks. Textbooks sell based on design and superficial features, not because they are based on the latest research on how children learn and how well they promote student achievement. In Tyranny of the Textbook, Beverlee Jobrack, retired from educational publishing, sheds light on why this happens. She gives an engaging and fascinating look behind-the-scenes of how K-12 textbooks are developed, written, adopted, and sold. And, perhaps most importantly, she clearly spells out how the system can change so that reforms and standards have a shot at finally being effective.

Did you know?
- Reform efforts have focused on writing and rewriting standards and tests, but these rarely have any effect on the core curriculum that is published.
- School districts and states don't use effectiveness as a criterion for evaluating and purchasing textbooks.
- Publishers don't offer textbooks with better content or the latest teaching methods because teachers don't want textbooks that require them to change their practices.
- Teachers report that they don't rely on a textbook in their class, but research shows that they do.
- Three companies publish 75 percent of the K-12 educational materials.
- Those three companies are producing similar programs with the same instructional strategies, none of which require teachers to change their practices significantly.
- Publishers write textbooks for California and Texas. All of the other markets have to make do with books only superficially adjusted for their states.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 262 • Trim: 6 x 9

978-0-8108-9623-9 • Paperback • November 2017 • $32.00 • (£25.00)

978-1-4422-1143-8 • eBook • December 2011 • $30.00 • (£22.99)

Subjects: Education / Curricula, Education / Educational Policy & Reform / General, Education / Current Issues

Author

Beverlee Jobrack spent more than 25 years weathering the ups and downs, mergers and acquisitions of educational publishing, first with Merrill Publishing. She retired in 2008 as editorial director of SRA/McGraw-Hill. Before starting her career in publishing, she was a middle school English/Literature teacher. She lives in Centerburg, Ohio.

Table of Contents

Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Student
Part 3 Teaching
Part 4 Educational Publishing
Part 5 Chapter 1 : The Most Effective Curriculum Materials Are Rarely Adopted
Part 6 Chapter 2 : The Educational Publishing Business and Profit Motive
Part 7 Chapter 3 : The Educational Materials Publishing Players Process, and Priorities
Part 8 Chapter 4 : Standards and Testing Don't Increase Student Achievement
Part 9 Chapter 5 : Why Technology Hasn't Improved Student Achievement
Part 10 Chapter 6 : Why Teacher Education and Professional Development don't Improve Student Achievement
Part 11 Chapter 7 : Rising Above the Plateau

Reviews

This is the best and deepest book on the trouble with textbooks I have seen. If anything is going to be done, it may be Jobrack who will have to do it.
— The Washington Post

Jobrack spent more than 25 years in the educational publishing industry and also worked as a middle school teacher. In this book, she presents a fascinating story of the life of textbooks, from their development through their distribution. Jobrack claims that, owing to several factors, the vast majority of textbooks are published for a narrow market (e.g., California and Texas), don’t focus on revising content or making instructional innovations, and therefore don’t support curriculum standards designed to improve student learning. Much of this book is eye-opening, especially the section on the dysfunctional relationship between teachers and textbooks. After laying out the cold facts of the situation now, Jobrack concludes with a chapter full of clear analysis and proposals of practical solutions for improvement. Verdict While maintaining an objective outlook, Jobrack also does an excellent job of entertaining the reader with salacious insider details into the world of textbook production. Her work will appeal most to educators and administrators at all primary and secondary levels, parents of schoolchildren, and college students majoring in education.
— Library Journal, Starred Review

From long experience in educational publishing, Jobrack argues that textbooks today reflect not quality curricula or effective instruction, but the for-profit motives of publishers and the educational standards and testing requirements of states. Three states--California, Texas, and Florida--drive educational publishing, and only three companies now control more than three-quarters of the business. After an introduction, the book has two chapters that reveal the business and profit motive and the players and process of educational publishing. Then three chapters outline why standards and testing, technology, and teacher education and professional development do not improve student achievement. So what to do? "Curriculum is a key," Jobrack says (and adds the pithy observation that "standards are not curricula"). A Nation at Risk (1983) had recommendations, "yet to be realized," for publishers and publishing, to which Jobrack adds, in a final chapter, other suggestions and elaboration. If provided the most effective curricula, schools could promote professional development, help teachers change their methods, develop better lessons, and improve student achievement. The focus on educational publishing is a novel and penetrating critique. The chapters on the publishing business are especially informative. Summing Up: Recommended.
— Choice

A new book from a 25-year veteran of educational publishing argues that improving the curriculum—what actually gets taught in classrooms—is all too often left off the table. And the author, who provides an insider perspective on the world of developing and selecting curricular materials, contends that this neglect is a key obstacle to increased student learning....The book...seems especially timely, given the ongoing challenge we've chronicled here of bringing the common standards in English/language arts and mathematics to life in the classroom....Jobrack offers a behind-the-scenes look at how textbooks and other curricular materials are developed, written, adopted, and sold. The author, who prior to working in publishing spent several years teaching middle school and preschool, argues that the curriculum used in most classrooms is mediocre and typically fails to reflect best practices. The core problem, as she sees it, is a system that has failed to create the right conditions and incentives to ensure that high-quality curricula designed to optimize learning are developed and reach classrooms around the nation....Jobrack outlines a variety of ideas to improve the quality of curriculum and instruction.
— Education Week

Despite the huge public debate about education reform, none of it has ever focused on textbooks, which may be one reason for the ineffectiveness of reform so far, argues Jobrack, a former teacher and curriculum developer for a textbook publisher. She strongly argues that school reform needs to include reevaluating how curriculum is developed and assessed; otherwise, any reform will fail. Jobrack documents how changing trends in education and even politics affect curriculum and textbook development, noting that textbooks are written to satisfy school boards in California and Texas, with minor tweaking for other states. Some states’ concerns about teaching evolution and sex education, teacher reluctance to change instructional methods, and added recent consternation about students not doing well on standardized tests are also affecting curriculum development. Jobrack begins with an analysis of the current textbook and curriculum-materials process that frequently selects the least effective products and examines the publishing business and its impact on curriculum development. Jobrack ends with suggestions for changes to improve curriculum in this eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at textbook selection and development.
— Booklist

Jobrack has used her considerable experience to clarify the complex and diverse issues surrounding educational materials publishing, curriculum review and purchase, and classroom practices. She presents very complex processes in a readable, easy-to-understand style. Discussing the common practices of qualified, well-meaning people from authors, editors, teachers, and materials review committees, Jobrack explains why the diverse requirements and expectations of these groups may in fact work against each other as they struggle toward the common goal—improved student learning and performance. This volume provides important insights for anyone interested in improving America’s schools.
— Ruth Cochrane, former publisher, SRA/McGraw-Hill

Jobrack’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in educational improvement and reform. Her analyses of the forces that shape textbook development focus much-needed attention on curriculum, the area of education many reformers and school critics choose to ignore as they seek targets—'bad' teachers, lazy principals, teacher unions, etc.—to blame for failing students and schools. Content matters, and matters a great deal in student success. Jobrack provides evidence that, if they truly want better schools, reformers should be turning their attention away from who delivers instruction and toward the content of what is being delivered.
— Fran Lehr, education consultant/writer

Much of the current conversation on education reform centers on how Common Core national standards are supposed to drive improved student achievement through new curriculum materials. It would be good if the advocates of national standards knew a thing or two about how textbooks are made and what a leaky sieve they are for lofty standards, and much else. Tyranny of the Textbook is an indispensable insider's guide to how the publishing industry creates the single most important resource for what students will be taught in school and why that resource is badly flawed. I highly recommend this book.
— Grover J. Russ Whitehurst, The Herman and George R. Brown Chair and director of the Brown Center on Education Policy, The Brookings Institute