Textbooks: Evaluation for

Selection and Analysis for

Implementation
Presenter: Saeed Majidi
Email: s.majidi88@gmail.com
Source: Byrd, P. (2001). Textbooks: Evaluation for selection and analysis for implementation
INTRODUCTION
Here were going to have a look at what Byrd argues: the decision made
in selecting textbook is different from those made for Implementing
textbooks.


Students
Teachers Textbooks
INTRODUCTION
Most of Teachers come to the classrooms with some textbooks which
provides content and teaching/learning activities that shape much of what
happens in that classroom.
Steps of using textbooks by teachers: first the selection of a book and then
the steps taken to implement the book in class.
Note: To many ESL/EFL teachers the selection process is not open
because textbooks have been selected through an administrative process- at
the ministerial level or by the school board or by the program director, etc.
Textbooks are scrutinized by teachers through
1. evaluation for selection
2. analysis for
implementation
EVALUATION FOR SELECTION
Evaluation and selection of textbooks can be carried out in many different
ways which some important ones are:
1. Teachers decide on the books that they want to use in their classes:
e.g. In university settings in the United States and elsewhere.
2. Administrators or committees of teachers select the textbooks.
3. Centralized decision making by the government:
E.g. Egypt or Iran
Note: In this system, a unified series of textbooks is created for use
throughout the country, rather than selecting textbooks from a generic
collection created by commercial publishing companies.
EVALUATION FOR SELECTION
4. Smaller centralized approach:
In this approach textbooks are analyzed and lists of recommended books
developed.
Note I: No national requirements exist, and individual schools often have
considerable flexibility in implementing state curricular requirements.
Note II: It does not emphasize the individual teacher making a personal
decision but often textbook selection is often the work of a faculty committee
or of a program administrator.
SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
Systems for evaluation of textbooks (and other instructional materials)
generally provide checklists built around numerous aspects of teaching and
student-teacher interactions. making a comprehensive yet reasonable
checklist for evaluation of textbooks is an enormous challenge that requires
different lists for different types of courses in different settings.
Note: Published checklists like are offered as models that present important
categories that should be considered in the selection process but you should
remember that like other suggestions from colleagues, these models need to
be considered carefully and adapted to fit the particular situation in which
they will be used.
SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
The issues in a
textbook
evaluation system
1. the fit between
the materials and
the curriculum
2. the fit between
the materials and
the Student
3. the fit between
the materials and
the Teacher
SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
1. The Fit Between Curriculum and Texts

Its very important that there be a fit between the materials and curriculum; In
some cases for large educational systems, publishers create materials
based on published curriculum statements. For example, in Egypt, the
Ministry of Education arranges for publication of its own textbooks, but in
some other cases, school systems publish their curriculum guidelines and
invite publishers to submit materials that fit those guidelines as pubic schools
in the US. As a result publishers compete fiercely to provide materials that
meet the stated curricular guidelines. In this case it seems that the fit
between the textbook and the curriculum is more reasonable and achievable
goal.

SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
For smaller programs and individual teachers, the fit between curriculum and
textbooks can be harder to achieve for two reasons:

the textbook must be selected based on
features other than curriculum-and
therefore the text itself becomes the
curriculum.
1. Too many programs do not
have clearly articulated
curriculum statements
the purpose of the selection process must
be to find books that have as good a fit as
possible-with the expectation that the
textbooks will need to be adapted and
supplemented with additional materials to
support the curriculum.
2. When there is a curriculum
statement for a smaller program
or an individual class, it may
have features that are unique to
that particular program
SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
2. the fit between the materials and the Student

Textbooks are for students. To meet their needs, the textbook must have not
just the English language or communication skill content demanded by the
curriculum, but it must also fit the needs of students as learners of English.


Major
elements
Content/
explanations
examples
exercises /
tasks
Presentation/
Format
Is the content likely to be of interest or use to the students? Is there any
chance that the content could be offensive or inappropriate for its
intended audience?
Are the examples appropriate to the lives and interests of the students?
Do the examples fit closely with the concepts they are supposed to be
explaining?
Do the exercises or tasks provide enough variety to meet the
needs of different kinds of learners in the class(es)?
Are the illustrations and other graphical and design elements
appropriate for their age and educational level? Will it last a term of
hard use by students?
SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
3. the fit between the materials and the Teacher

Textbooks are also for teachers. The evaluation-for-selection process needs
to find out if the textbook can be used effectively by the teachers to whom it
will be assigned. The basic questions will always be Can our teachers
handle this material? and Will our teachers find that the textbook meets their
needs and preferences for teaching material?


SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION
Major
elements
Content/
explanations
In all settings, evaluators need to consider if the textbook provides
content that teachers will find useful to carry out the goals of the
course and the program is this a teacher-friendly textbook?
Are the examples usable for the teacher?
Can they be expanded on or recast to be useful in the
lessons?
Does the text provide enough things for the teacher to
give his or her students to do for the period of time to be
covered by the course? Are the exercises or tasks doable
in this setting?
Does the illustrative material provide the teacher with teaching
opportunities?
Is there a close connection between the content and the
illustrations?
examples

exercises /
tasks

Presentation/
Format
ANALYSIS FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
In the evaluation-for-selection process, the basic question is Does this
book have the features that we want it to have so that we can adopt it? After
adoption, the basic question changes to, How do I as a teacher working with
particular students in a particular class in a particular program make this
book work to ensure effective and interesting lessons?
The categories that a teacher can use are the same as in the selection
process but the purpose is much different and often much more urgent, since
teachers can find themselves analyzing a textbook only hours before going
into a class to teach a lesson that will be built around the materials in the
text.

ANALYSIS FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
Getting an Overview of the Resources in the Textbook:

Prior to implementing a textbook, a teacher needs to read the whole book-
from start to finish, including any appendices.
A basic rule of textbook implementation: You can only implement materials
if you know they are there.



TEACHING CYCLE
presentation
practice
evaluation
introduction of new materials or
information or a re-introduction
for a review session
Note: it can be direct or
indirect; it is whatever the
teacher does to get students
started on a unit of study. any type of activity, from a drill to
writing an essay, from the least
communicative form of repetition
to an unscripted discussion; it is
whatever the teacher sets up to
help the students learn to do
whatever it is they are studying
in that unit
whatever the teacher does to
find out what the students have
learned.
ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF
THE TEXTBOOK
Language textbooks differ considerably from those in other disciplinary
areas. Discussions of problems with public school textbooks for other
disciplines often concentrate on two related areas: (1) inaccurate or
incomplete content (see for example, Suidan ct al. 1995) and (2) poor
readability for the student audience because content experts do not
necessarily understand how to present complex content for new, young
learners (see for example, Britton, Woodward, and Binkely 1993).

ESL/EFL textbooks tend to be made up of two strands of content: (1) the
linguistic content (grammar, vocabulary, skill area) and (2) the thematic
content ("school," "gender issues," "Native Americans," and the topical
content used to present and practice the linguistic content).
In contrast
ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF
THE TEXTBOOK
Note: The teacher can expect the topics in content-based materials to be
emphasized and clearly visible. In most other materials, however, the
teacher will need to look past the linguistic content to find out what themes
have been included in the textbook.
Example: the teacher notices in his or her initial analysis that a grammar
textbook includes numerous examples and passages based on biographies
of famous people, then he or she can plan to supplement the text with other
materials and activities (visits to local museums, readings about people
famous in the cultures of the students, and so on).
Note: The analysis-for-implementation angle on content involves both the
linguistic and the thematic content of the textbook
ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF
THE TEXTBOOK
ANALYSIS OF
EXERCISES/TASKS IN THE
TEXTBOOK FOR
IMPLEMENTATION IN
CLASSES
In planning the ways in which the textbook will be used for the whole
academic term, a teacher needs to be making concrete if tentative decisions
about how different activities will be used during the academic term.
1. Which of the activities provided in this textbook will I do in class?
2. Which activities in the textbook will I assign as homework?
3. Which activities in the textbook will I hold back to use for testing?
4. Which activities in the textbook can be used for review later in the term?
5. Which activities in the textbook require longer periods of time to
accomplish- special projects?
6. Which activities in the textbook might require special equipment that has to
be ordered ahead of time?
7. Where are connections being made between various units of the book,
connections that might require review?
8. Which activities in the textbook do I not want to do at all?
Answers questions
like:

SEEKING HELP IN
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE
TEXTBOOK
sources of information
and support
Formal resources
The instructor's manual as well
as other written materials
available in the school or program
Informal
resources
implementation of materials in a
course by talking with colleagues who
are teaching the same course or who
have taught it before.
CONCLUSION
In the evaluation-for selection process, those with the responsibility for choosing
textbooks need to consider not just the fit between the curriculum and the textbook
but also the practical issues of usability by teachers and by students. Once a textbook
has been selected, teachers need to analyze the resources in the textbook to create a
plan for daily lessons and for the whole course that helps them both implement and
supplement what is already given in the most efficient and effective way.
Note: some teacher educators say that teachers should be free agents-creating their
own materials for their own students. Such discussions are built on a vision of the
teacher as an individual, in his or her own classroom, making unique decisions for
that unique group of students, in contrast, At the other extreme, and probably the
source of some of the negative emotions that teacher educators express about
textbooks, is the administrative desire for a "teacher-proof text" that can be taught by
even the most untrained and unqualified of individuals. Of course, reality for most
teachers lies somewhere between these two extremes.
THANKS FOR YOUR
ATTENTION
Presenter: Saeed Majidi
Email: s.majidi88@gmail.com