Textbook Analysis

Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. (2010). Glencoe World History and Geography 1500 A.D. to the Present. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Page No. 248 499 740 Average
Syllables 177 164 192 177.67
Sentences 8 7 6 7
Result: The results varied between 10, 9.2, and 13.6 for grade level. The average for that would be 10.9
or close to 11
th
grade.
















This book is supposed to be for grades 9-12 according to the publisher. I am going to
evaluate it using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test to judge if the readability fits those grade
levels. The Flesch-Kincaid test looks for reading ease by looking at the syllables per sentence. If
the reading ease is high it will have a lower grade score on the readability part of the Flesch-
Kincaid test. Using the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale, the book weighs in at about 11
th
grade
Figure 1 Cover of the Textbook
(see table above). One of the tests put it at 9.2 for a reading level and one of the tests put it at a
13.6. I noticed that these tests went up in difficulty in accordance to how far along the book
went. I do not know if this is just a coincidence but it is something to touch on and to perhaps
test for. However, I dont have time to test each page in the book so the three pages I randomly
selected will have to do for a readability evaluation. The language on the book is on par for a
high school textbook. The language flows very well to make it an easy read but it definitely is
not on a middle school level. It has harder words but most are terminology that is appropriate
vocabulary for a high schooler. Also vocab is explained when it is not apparent from context
clues.
It seems as this book could be used for grades as low as 9
th
and as high as 12
th
or
possibly an AP course. However, the teacher would have to use the readability score to
determine if the passages are appropriate. Seeing as the readability score went up throughout the
book, one could possibly use the book chronologically as the student travels through high school
and consequentially through the subjects. However, high school students dont necessarily take
history classes in order. It has a lot of variability. It could be used in a 9
th
or 10
th
grade world
history class as well as an upper level European class or an AP Euro class.
I chose the Assessing the Text instrument of content, format, utility, and style to evaluate
this text because that gives a comprehensive overview of the textbook and how well it can be
used to teach youth (Alvermann, Phelps, and Gillis 2012).
Content
First-off, this is the Virginia edition of this textbook. Virginia has much more
comprehensive social studies standards of Learning and textbooks have been known to adapt
textbooks to them to make them more likely to buy their product (Tamin Ansary, 2004) This is
interesting though as well because this is a World History textbook and one would presume there
is little to no mention of Virginia in here so it is not geared specifically towards Virginia history.
Shouldnt the textbooks hold every version of the textbook they publish to the highest standard?
This book covers the world before civilization to the world as a global society. This starts
at the first humans and civilizations in Asia and Africa and moves through Ancient Greece, the
dark ages, and the beginning of the enlightenment. The second section of the book explores the
early modern world with the renaissance and reformation through exploration and the period of
revolutions throughout Muslim empires, Asian empires, the French revolution and revolution in
the Americas. It delves into the scientific revolution as a catalyst to the age of revolution. Unit
three in the book looks at imperialism by looking at colonial rule and democracy respectively
and how they affect one and other when imperialism is involved. The unit three looks at the two
world wars and how they affected different regions such as the middle east, Asia, south America
and European nations as well as the years in between and the treaties that brought on World War
II. Following this is the last unit that goes into how the world has developed into a global society,
focusing on the Cold war and the development of some third world countries around the world
into developed nations. The content in the book is extremely comprehensive and I dont believe
there would be a way t teach it all in one year. This text could be very good for an ancient world
history class or a modern world history class. My roommate actually had this book for an AP
European class, showing how adaptable it is to different curriculums because of the sheer
amount of content.
The content has a wide range of topics and generally covers every area of the world when
they look at a time period. It is very detail oriented which is what makes it hard to teach the
entire textbook in one year but makes it great for using one textbook for many different great
levels if one is looking at it from an administration and budget standpoint. Another part of the
content is the extras added in such as the geography skills handbook and the world atlas for
students to refer back to. This teaches students how to read maps and where places are that the
book refers to in the chapters.
Content is obviously the first thing a teacher would check when looking for a textbook.
However, I had not taken into account what all to look for in content before assessing this
textbook. Teachers must look for bias in the textbook before wanting to use it in the classroom.
An ethnocentric book would not be a good choice in a World History class where students need a
wide look at the world. As an administrator I would look for the book with the most content,
which is why this book is chosen I'm sure because it covers from the beginning of man to a
global society while looking at every continent in between. As a teacher though I would want a
text more focused in on the topic at hand so as to not overwhelm students. This is not always the
case where budgets are not big for textbooks though and more often than not more quantity of
content gets chosen over quality. Fortunately for any student using this book though, quality is
definitely not neglected.
Format
The format of the book is very helpful to students. It has a lot of resources besides just
the information in the text. As it is a world history text, it has 27 pages of a reference atlas to be
able to know where places are on a map that the book is talking about. It also includes a section
on map bias that I have never seen in a textbook before now. This is beneficial to students and
should be taught in these kinds of classes. This is located at the beginning of the book which also
reminds a teacher that this must be taught before students can look at maps in the book
objectively. This map bias is in a section of the book called the geography skills handbook. This
section also includes skills for how to read maps. All of these tools are more effective placed at
the beginning of the textbook before students get into the material so this format is excellent.
The text is split into five units with multiple chapters in each. At the beginning of each
unit there is a section that asks why this unit matters. It gives influences on the modern world
and gives an overview of the chapters. The beginning of each chapter gives a timeline of the
important events covered in the chapter. This is good for students to get a perspective of the time
being covered in each chapter. It also asks an open-ended thought provoking question and
explains a tie into modern culture. The chapters are split into sections. Those sections had
subheadings and then topics under each. This splits the information into groupings that allow for
better comprehension. The end of the chapter gives a summary and a practice assessment that
students can use to test their knowledge. A neat feature of the assessment page is a page number
students can use to get more information if they get the question wrong or dont understand it.
The units and chapters also include extras such as activities where students can practice
analyzing primary sources or looking at the social history of a time period. This is to cover
material that doesnt necessarily fit into the sub sections but should still be addressed.
The reference pages include a variety of resources for students. There is a mini almanac
that looks at graphs of populations, as well as wealth, infant mortality, and other useful
comparisons for a world history textbook. This section also includes a page on different
foldables to take notes on which seems fairly unnecessary. It also includes a skills section that
teaches how to look for cause and effect, generalizations, looking at fact vs. opinion and a
variety of other comprehension skills. This part takes pages from the book or graphs and uses
bubbles and arrows to show students what to look for on the page to find these things or to
analyze different parts of the text. There is also around 20 pages of primary source documents on
each chapter of the book. They also include essential questions at the bottom of each to help
students draw conclusions. The glossary includes a Spanish glossary as well for English
Language Learners. The index bolds the main terms to more easily see them against the sub-
categories. There is an insert in the very back of the book that includes the election of 2008.
Format plays a huge role in how readable a certain text is. As a teacher this is important
to look at especially for lower-level readers or English Language Learner students who may need
support when reading. When books split up big ideas and topics well it helps students
tremendously when they comprehend the information. It provides a frame for the information
that students can put into context.
Utility
This book is fairly user friendly. The many resources it has are not only helpful for
students but teachers as well. The book frames itself using main ideas in each unit that the other
sections can tie in; that adds to understanding of the text. The students can use this book not only
to gain information but as a study tool thanks to the assessments at the end of each chapter. It is
so comprehensive that students very rarely have to look outside the text for more information on
a subject. The various extra resources can be great tools in the classroom such as the atlas,
almanac, primary sources, and maps reading guide. The primary sources also can help students
build arguments if they have outside papers or projects. The reviews at the end of each section
provide vocab, a way to take notes and big ideas. These are useful to students and can help them
frame the section if they have to read it on their own. The reading check questions would also be
good for giving out homework as a during reading or after reading assignment. The version I am
assessing too is the teachers manual. However, the utilities for the students are already enough.
The teachers manual does not really add anything besides some differentiated instruction
methods or reading strategies that teachers should already have from their certificate or degree.
This is one of the most important things to look for as an instrument for assessing the
text. This provides background info and visuals for students that make them want to read the
textbook. More often than not the thing that grabs students is the sidebar interesting facts. This
book has a tremendous amount of these as well as resources in the front and back to support
students. This is what will help them when they are outside of the classroom without the teacher
to guide reading activities. Since most reading is done outside of class then a textbook with good
supporting utilities is imperative for students to actually read and comprehend.














Figure 2 Example of a utility in the book
Style
This text is extremely readable. Speaking again from my roommates perspective who
had the book in high school, she enjoyed reading it. It presented information clearly and
chronologically and gave enough flair for it to be somewhat considered a story, which is what all
history texts should shoot for to interest readers. However, my roommate is also an excellent
reader and enjoys reading so that plays a factor into wanting to actually read a textbook. The
details added into the text could make it overwhelming for some students but I personally think it
gives it a human edge and gives enough interesting facts that it keeps students attention when
they're reading. The little subsections that the chapter are split into also generally start off with a
strong topic sentence in each that grabs the attention of the reader and holds it to give the
information in more detail in the following sentences. This style allows for the author to make
their points very clear with strong arguments.
Style is important as well. A textbook that is hard to read because of weird wording is
never going to get read by the students. This is something to look at first besides content because
it plays a huge role on whether it will be a tool or a problem in the classroom where you have to
fight your students to read or provide a lot of supporting reading strategies. This would be fine as
Im trained in literacy however; given the choice of a book with good style a teacher will take
that every time. Plus good writing can encourage reading beyond my classroom.
This textbook has a lot of strengths. It has a variety of utilities for students and teachers.
The style is easy and interesting to read. It also has a comprehensive content that could cover a
variety of grade levels or subjects. However, how much this covers could be a weakness as well
as a strength. A textbook could go much more in depth if it isnt trying to cover the entire history
of the world since the beginning of man.
The main strength of this text is its utility. This text includes so much more than just the
information it needs to include. It goes above and beyond with the resources it provides. The
book begins with the resource of the world atlas. In a world history class this is imperative for
students to refer to. The first step to understanding history is seeing where events occurred and
how climates and areas affected the events. This book has 26 pages of not only maps, but maps
that show political climates, physical attributes, and even population figures. Beyond that it has a
geography handbook that details map bias, how to read a map, and understanding the earths
physical systems. Each chapter includes a timeline of events in the chapter to provide a visual for
students. Each section of the chapter provides a reading guide giving the vocab, big ideas, and a
note taking strategy. There are practice tests at the end of the chapters to provide review for
students. My personal favorite strength is the primary source documents the book includes that
also give Document-based questions to prepare students for an AP test. There is also the almanac
in the back and a Spanish- English glossary for ELL students. This book could literally teach
World history without any help from the teacher thanks to the activities it outlines and the
supporting diagrams and strategies. A teacher would really have to try hard to avoid using these
ready-made resources. The teachers manual also outlines how to use each activity in the
classroom if teachers werent aware of how to teach the material. It is an incredibly supportive
text and the main strength of this book.


















Another huge strength of the book is how adaptable it is. The readability score varies
throughout the book but it allows for differentiation of learners and can push lower level learners
to work a little harder thanks to the supportive utilities. It also goes through world history from
the beginning of man to a global civilization. While that would be impossible to teach in a year,
it would be an excellent school-wide text that a teacher could pull sections out of to adapt to her
European class or World history 1 or 2. Each unit and chapter also covers each part of the world
extensively and avoids an ethno centrist bias which makes it better for a world classroom where
that can easily become a problem. Budget-wise, this makes a great text to purchase because it
can cover so many avenues and the school only has to have one book for a variety of classes. It is
also close to a thousand pages long with all the extra utilities so it has plenty of detail that you
Figure 3 example of a utility
wouldnt normally expect with a text that covers so much. Half of the book would be equal to
buying one textbook to cover just AP Euro or World History 1.
The style of this book can definitely be considered a strength. The way it frames topics
makes it interesting and easy for students to read. It is very much like telling a story rather than
pushing facts. It tells history in mostly chronological history besides when it is making a point
about certain facets of society in the culture at the time that explained why events in history
played out. The headings of the sections are also interesting enough to grab the attention of the
readers. It frames each subsection with a topic sentence and then supporting detail though so
students can at least get main ideas if they are just going to skim as well.
I touched on this as sort of a strength that it could be taught to a variety of grade levels,
however I think that can be a weakness as well. Especially since the readability varied so much.
It would be hard to think this would be good for a 9
th
grader, especially one who might have
lower reading abilities when some parts of the textbook were rating on a grade level of 13.6. if
this were to be used as an AP textbook that would be perfect. However, usually students still
have to take some form of a world history and it cannot only be geared towards the highest
learners in the school. This will make the teachers life harder if her students cannot read the
text. As this text would be one picked because it covers so many topics that the whole school
would use, you want it to be one that most students can read with ease. Especially since students
do not always tale history classes in order in high school and a 9
th
grader could easily be in the
same class as a senior and struggle tremendously with this text.
How long this text is and how much it tries to cover can be a weakness. Teachers would
prefer a specified text to teach each history section. A specific textbook would give more insight
into the period as well as be able to make arguments that a large textbook doesnt have time to
do. The amount of information can be overwhelming to students as well who see that giant 1,000
page textbook, think they will never be able to read it all and toss it in their locker the first day
and never look at it again. Teachers do not want this. Since this text would be used to represent
the whole school teachers would have to be clear from day one that students would only be
looking at certain units. That could also take away from accountability from the students though
in being able to say I got lost in the textbook or did not know where to look for that information
because this text is just so long with so much content.
This text has an incredible amount of resources not just in supporting students as they
read but activities, essential questions, big ideas, notes strategies, and vocabulary. It would be
easy as a teacher to get lazy and to start relying too much on this book to just do your job for
you. This is a weakness of the text. I know saying a text is too supportive is a stretch, however
we see this way too often in classrooms to really avoid this as a topic. My little brothers modern
global studies teacher is currently only using book worksheets and book textbooks and book
PowerPoints to teach her class. Her whole class is struggling. Imagine if she has a book that told
students exactly how to read and the big ideas they had to look for. She would have to do her job
less than she already does. As an administration I would take this into account when buying a
huge book like this with so many strategies. While good for intrinsically motivated students, it
could be a struggle for students who have teachers that will rely too much on the book and its
resources.
Seeing as this text is so large and supposed to be used for different classes and grade
levels, one way to make up for this weakness would be to add in supporting, focused texts to
show popular arguments in history or to go more in depth on a certain subject.

Naydler, Jeremy. The future of the ancient world:essays on the history of consciousness.
Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 20120. Print.

As a supplement to unit one of the textbook on ancient civilizations, I included The
Future of the Ancient World: Essays on the History of Consciousness by Jeremy Naydler. This
book takes Ancient History and ties it into our lives today and stresses how important it is to
learn from past civilizations. The readability is on grade level 9 according to Flesch-Kincaid.
This would be a great supplemental text to stress the important of history in their lives and would
be great in an introductory world history class at the beginning of the year.


Cohen, E. S., & Cohen, T. V. (2001). Daily life in Renaissance Italy. Westport, Conn.:
Greenwood Press.

This book is a good supplemental source for a renaissance unit. It gives daily life and is
interesting to students in that aspect. Plus the renaissance started in Italy so it would be a good
starting point for why it flourished there and what caused it to spread.




The concise history encyclopedia ([Rev.]. ed.). (2001). New York: Kingfisher.

While on a lower reading level, this book gives concise overviews of events in world history for
students to refer back to while they read their main text. This will keep them reading because
they wont have to flip through and read the whole chapter in their book if they forget one event
in history and get lost. This way they wont stop reading all together.




Spiegelman, A. (1997). Maus: a survivor's tale. New York: Pantheon Books.

I would most definitely use Maus in a classroom to teach the unit on World War II and
the Holocaust. It is a graphic novel so the readability is very easy. This means it could easily be
taken home and read in a week as a supplemental project for class. It also gives them a
dimension of modern global studies of the holocaust and the holocaust at the time for a broader
understanding of history.



Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: a world history. New York: Walker and Co.

Salt focuses on one aspect of global empires and uses it to explain colonialism,
imperialism, and how global trade was established. This would be a great case study in class and
would make empires more real as salt is something we use every day and the origins would be
interesting to students. This would definitely be for an upper level course on world history
though such as an AP or honors.