The making of a textbook

They are dropped, stepped on, crammed into backpacks, written on, carved on, torn and lost — but if people knew how school textbooks were made they would be treated like gold.

Even so, the role of textbooks in classrooms has evolved over the past 20 years. Instead of being the centerpiece, they are just one of many tools.

"Twenty years ago teachers may have taken a textbook, started with Chapter 1 and went to Chapter 15. That is not necessarily the best way to do it," said Paul Puzey, curriculum coordinator for the state. "I think that for almost all courses, schools will adopt a textbook for a class, but the thing that we are moving away from is a complete dependence on a book in the classroom."

He said most texts are not completely aligned with the state core, so teachers are trained to pick and choose which material from the book they cover.

Another factor is the availability of more instruction tools such as CD-ROMS, computer programs and the Internet.

"The Internet is a marvelous resource, and we really encourage the use of that," Puzey said. "The state produces material constantly that can help teachers search data bases and find Web sites that they can use."

Nonetheless, textbooks still play an important part of instruction. And they must go through multiple scrutinies before landing on a student's desk.

Vali Kremer, instructional material specialist for the state office of education, said the state reviews all instructional materials — around 3,500 books, guides and CDs — submitted by publishers every six months.

An instructional materials committee gives a thumbs up or down to the books after receiving recommendations from educators who specialize in the given areas.

She said that review committee consists of more than 600 teachers who are teaching in the core content areas, certified and currently teaching.

"They review all material that comes in against the core curriculum and a rubric that the content area specialist has set up," said Kremer.

Experts make sure books are research-based, aligned with the core, the font size is appropriate for the grade, the binding is durable and that it serves a universal population.

They also have to make sure there are no gender, religious or content biases — specifically in history books.