"Alias Paine"

[Laurie Verge]

A very good post, Maddie -- and good teachers bring in the human side of history in the classroom whenever they can find the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, our nation is trending more and more to the "teach to the test" rule where students only learn enough to get them through standardized tests to make the school district look good.

We've been reaping the benefits of that strategy for the past thirty years or so, and look where it has gotten us. In my area, heavy emphasis is put on science, math, and reading when teaching to the test. I have spent years at Surratt House trying to convince teachers that HISTORY and the social sciences have their base in READING, so why not incorporate it into the reading program.

When I was teaching, the textbooks were chosen by a representative committee within our county system. There were usually 3-4 recommended books that individual schools could then choose from. In those days, most of the publishers of said textbooks were based in New England, so the emphasis on certain subjects (especially regarding the Revolution and the Civil War) was slightly skewed.

There's big money to be made in the field of textbook publishing. Several years ago, there was a story done on the committee that selects books for Texas schools and the pressures that are put upon them by publishers. Texas has turned it around and puts pressure on the publishers to come up with better products.