Who's Covering Population in Social Studies: A Survey of Secondary Social Studies Texts.

This textbook survey is designed to aid junior high and high school social studies teachers in choosing texts which cover population topics adequately. Thirty social studies textbooks from all major publishers have been evaluated. The results are contained in matrices which show how each text ranks on its coverage of demographics and related issues. The chart format allows comparison of texts within the subject areas of World History, Geography, and Global Studies, and can help teachers pinpoint weak areas of their current texts so they know where supplemental materials are especially needed. Each text was evaluated for its coverage of level, definitions and concepts, population dynamics, social aspects of population growth, effects of population growth, population growth as a concern, population and the future, supplemental information, and length of coverage. A discussion of the top textbooks in each category explains why they deserve the rating. Survey authors conclude that global studies texts are the overall best source of population information available from social studies textbook publishers, that surprisingly few geography textbooks cover population thoroughly, and that generally, world history textbooks' coverage of population is not as detailed as either geography or global studies books. (LZ)