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| Almost nothing on violations of Americans' rights as Englishmen under the British constitution by acts of Parliament, 1763-75 | 62 lines on gender inequality in families and politics during the Revolutionary era |
| Nothing on Constitutional Convention conflicts over choosing the president (Electoral College), tariffs (no export tariffs), or the 2/3s Senate majority to ratify treaties | 128 student text line ecological travelogue through Florida Everglades in 1899 |
| Text narrative is silent on strict vs. loose construction. Sourcebook wrongly implies that only loose constructionists believe in implied powers. In fact, both strict and loose constructionists accept implied powers, but to the former the elastic clause means absolutely necessary, while the latter read "necessary and proper" as convenient, and nowhere expressly prohibited. | 250 student text lines deplore male sexism in antebellum U.S. and/or devalue traditional sex roles in marriage and family and/or demean women who upheld them. |
| Nothing on constitutional problems of Radical Reconstruction | 10 student text lines on marital strife between John Quincy Adams and his wife ("hanging and marriage were strongly assimilated") |
| Student text ignores Washington's Neutrality Proclamation, Jay's Treaty, and 1807 Embargo Act. Teaching Guide covers all 3 in 4+ lines. | 41 student text lines on a 1600 lb. cheese given by Massachusetts citizens to Thomas Jefferson |
| Nothing on Pinckney's Treaty, Rush-Bagot Treaty, Hartford Convention, Panic of 1819, or Webster-Ashburton Treaty | 127 student text lines on L. Frank Baum, creator of Wizard of Oz |
| Student text omits XYZ Affair (tells students to look it up in an encyclopedia). | 33 student text lines on daily life of King Charles VI of Spain |
| 7 student text lines on Nullification Crisis | 104 student text lines on a woman climbing Pike's Peak in bloomers |
| Nothing on Democratic party breakup and 4-man presidential race in 1860 | 200 student text lines on Harriet Tubman |
| Nothing on 1903 Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, which gained the U.S. the Panama Canal route | 105 student text lines on Susan B. Anthony's voting in 1872, her arrest and trial |
| Nothing on Indian massacres of British frontier garrisons during Pontiac's Rebellion, or on Indians' habit of sadistically torturing captives, sometimes eating slain foes, or drinking their blood (see Francis Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, vol. 1 [Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1895], pp. 269, 298, 343) | Reference to British practice of executing captured Indians (probably during Pontiac's Rebellion) |
Nothing on American heroism in Mexican War, such as:
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15 student text lines on battles in the Mexican War, 11 of which refer to Mexican heroism (los ninos at Chapultepec) |
| Pejoratively quotes U.S. general W.T. Sherman's use of Nazi-like term "final solution" for killing Indians | Non-judgmentally quotes Indian chief Tecumseh's racist statement, "Let the white race perish." |
| Carelessly offends Christians by multiple instances of swearing | Carefully avoids offending non-Christians by using "B.C.E." and "C.E." instead of "B.C." and "A.D." |
| Almost nothing on the first Great Awakening, one of the most significant events between colonization and the American Revolution: student text very briefly mentions the first Great Awakening but omits its relation to the Revolution; Teaching Guide once vaguely refers to the first Great Awakening's weakening "traditional authority and loyalties"; no explanation that it was anti-elitist (stressed faith over reason), emphasized democratic opportunity (all could be saved), reaffirmed Protestant individualism (priesthood of all believers), united colonists in a common experience, expanded most those denominations (Baptists, Methodists) seeking disestablishment, and (unlike the Enlightenment) voiced a pessimistic view of human nature (sinful man needing a divine Savior) requiring checks and balances in government | Presents negative attitudes toward Christianity.
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first-time-evers in this | ||
| MULTIPLIED TRACTION IN TWO BIGGEST STATES | Our working in both California and Texas nationalizes demand for textbook reform in markets where publishers listen best. | |
| To reform textbooks you must first open up the state approval process, which in California limits citizen input. | TARGETED CHANGE IN CALIFORNIA'S RULES | |
| FACED LESS DEMOCRATIC CIRCUMSTANCES | That California's State Board of Education is unelected boded ill for hopes of redress … | |
| … but a judge unexpectedly ordered California to revamp its textbook approval procedure. | RECEIVED MOMENTUM FROM A COURT RULING | |
| BREACHED BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION | Most would deem exhaustive our efforts to gain real access to submitted textbook samples. | |
| We worked below publishers' and California's radar lest they change their behavior and spoil the experiment. | CONCEALED ENGAGEMENT DURING OUR STUDY | |
| REVIEWED 8TH GRADE U.S. HISTORY TEXTBOOKS | Those books got the same scrutiny on key issues that we usually give to high school U.S. History texts. | |
| Our reviews exposed teachers to concepts and info that their training may have skipped. | PACKED OUR RATING SHEET WITH NEW PERSPECTIVES | |
| CITED "CORRECTED" TEXTBOOK EDITIONS | Editors and California undeniably missed the 427 factual errors we found in the "final" versions sent statewide. | |
| We timed our release just right to improve future adoptions, if a little late to affect these sales. | PRIORITIZED LONG RUN OVER SHORT TERM | |
| EXPANDED COVERAGE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS | Our faxed textbook rating sheet went to individual campuses, not to school district offices, reaching more teachers. | |
| Many California Christian schools use the same books, so we sent them our rating sheet as well. | INCLUDED COVERAGE OF CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS | |