1. Morals/Values: A Review of Selected Third and Fifth Grade Reading and Social Studies Texts.
- Author
-
Sharp, Pat Tipton and Wood, Randy M.
- Abstract
A study investigated the extent to which positive moral values are included in reading and social studies textbooks. Random samples of social studies textbooks (published by Harcourt Brace, D. C. Heath, Scott Foresman, Silver Burdett and Ginn, and McGraw-Hill) and reading textbooks (published by MacMillan/McGraw-Hill, Harcourt Brace, and Houghton Mifflin) on the adopted list for Texas (a list also used by other states) at the third- and fifth-grade levels were examined. A "moral values matrix" consisting of religious, individual, and social/secular values was used as a basis for the examination of the moral content of each sample. A single inclusion of a moral or value from the matrix meant that the textbook was judged as having fulfilled the matrix category. Results indicated that the social studies textbooks at both grade levels contained 75% or more of the values in the matrix. Results also indicated that while the reading textbooks at both levels contained only about 50% of the values in the matrix, the textbooks focused on family life and relationships. Findings suggest that the charge of a lack of positive values presented in social studies and reading textbooks appears to be unfounded. (Contains two figures illustrating aspects of the moral values matrix and a figure of data.) (RS)
- Published
- 1994