Text Book Analysis

1.)  Readability Level (Fry's Readability Scale): Use the Fry Readability Graph  - FOLLOW the directions and take the AVERAGE of the number of syllables, etc. from 100 word sections at the beginning, middle, and end of the book. You should come up with ONE plotted point for the grade level equivalent of the textbook. Post the grade level (e.g., 8.5) on the form and list it here.  

This textbook, "United States History" is used in an 8th grade classroom at a Philadelphia Charter School. The average number of syllables in an 100 word section was 159.6. The average number of sentences was 7.4. This means that this textbook is at a tenth grade reading level, but is used in an eighth grade classroom. The textbook tends to have longer sentences than words.

2.) Level of Questions (Bloom's Taxonomy):
Check the end of chapter questions in 3 chapters in the textbook (at the beginning, middle, and end). List the categories of questions found most, next, and least... (e.g., the majority of the questions might deal with comprehension, a few with application and analysis, and none related to synthesis or evaluation).

Most questions in this textbook deal with comprehension. There are also a number of questions that deal with synthesis. There are very few that deal with evaluation.

3.) Bias (text, images, content coverage): List or make a notation regarding any bias you find in the textbook... the bias could be in the pictures/images displayed, the examples given, the coverage (or lack of coverage) of events, ideological orientation, etc.

There was not much obvious bias. There were a few instances where I felt significant historical events were not looked at with enough depth to see multiple perspectives (which is necessary in understanding history). The information about Native Americans, for example, was very elementary. However, an in depth exploration of colonization might be too much content for eighth grade.