Fair Textbooks: A Resource Guide, a centralized catalog of bias-free education resources¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

Fair Textbooks: A Resource Guide is a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights clearinghouse publication that catalogs resources designed to promote fairness in public school education. It is organized into four parts: Material Resources (research, special issues, textbook evaluation instruments, nonprint materials, resource lists, bibliographies), Procedural Resources (textbook, curriculum, and administrative guidelines and state statutes), Directories (publishers and state education departments), and Organizational Resources (organizations and conferences). The guide was compiled because "Lack of access to in- formation about these available reSources creates.a barrier to their full utilization"; it lists resources without evaluating or endorsing them.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Resources must be coded by group, grade level, and subject area to maximize accessibility for users seeking materials for particular populations

Constraints¶

• Inclusion of an item is not an endorsement by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; no attempt was made to evaluate individual items, and the list is not all-inclusive

Target Learners¶

• Elementary through secondary public school students, reached via parents, librarians, educators, administrators, and publishers

Target Learning Goals¶

• Fair and accurate representation of minority and female groups in curriculum and textbook materials

Claims¶

Related Elements¶

• Publisher Directory listing publishers sensitive to treatment of minorities and females
• 33-page annotated resource listing for students and teachers

Examples¶

• Combine resources across guide sections for the most fruitful results

Key Sources¶

• Alspektor, Rose Ann, and Wirtenberg, Jeana. (1979). Fair Textbooks: A Resource Guide. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Clearinghouse Publication 61. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED183700