TTT Examples from Texas Social Studies textbooks under review for Proclamation 2015
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
World Geography
(High School):
Excerpt:
“Young people in Cuba receive many benefits from the Communist government, including free education and
health care. The education system extends from preschool programs through college to graduate programs. However, young people, like all Cubans, live in a police state that limits their economic and
political freedoms.”
Half-
truth: Cuba’s economic freedom score is 28.5, making its economy one of the world’s least free. Cuba scores far below world averages in most areas of economic freedom, and its economy remains one of the world’s most repressed. The foundations of economic freedom are particul
arly weak in the absence of an independent and fair judiciary. No courts are free of political interference, and pervasive corruption affects many aspects of economic activity. 2014 Index of Economic Freedom Heritage Foundation Study in cooperation with the Wall Street Journal. Excerpt:
“European colonialism has caused political, economic & environmental problems in Africa today.” “Why has Africa not been able
to take advantage of its abundant resources? As a result of colonialism, the economics of many African nations
are based on exporting resources instead of processing them.”
Omission of facts: “This ignores the inherent problems Africa faces. Colonialism had several positive outcomes in Africa: Bri
tain brought in Rule of Law that could prepare way for eventual self-rule; Britain actively suppressed the slave trade; tribal chiefs resisted & expanded the slave trade; Industrial & agricultural skills of European immigrants were often useful; Infrastructure was vastly improved. Problems in Africa unrelated to colonialism were some of the main causes of political, economic & environmental problems; poor communication & transport; resistance to change in farming methods. Africa is made up of many states unable to secure sovereignty or solvency & without a common ethnic base.
”
Encyclopedia Britannica, History of the Modern World Palmer Coltan Kramer
McGraw Hill
US History to 1877
(Grade 8)
Excerpt:
“A voting dispute in Florida also affected the 2000 presidential election. An extremely close vote count led to a bitter disp
ute between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore over whether and how to recount the ballots. The dispute kept either party from gaining enough electoral votes to win the election. This time, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling helped make Bush the winner an
d president.”
Omission of fact, half-
truth & bias: “A voting dispute in Florida also affected the 2000 presidential election. An extremely close vote count led to
a bitter dispute between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore over whether and how to recount the ballots. Bush had the most votes by a small margin on the first
count. The Florida Secretary of State had declared Bush the winner of Florida’s 25 Electoral Votes. A U.S. Supreme Court ru
ling decided in a controversial 5-4 decision that a recount was not proper and Bush was declared the winner and president. The Florida Supreme Court had granted Gore a recount in four counties of
Edmentum
World History Since 1815
(High School)
Excerpt: “
Before Lincoln could carry out his policy towards the conquered South, he was assassinated by a disgruntled Southerner.
”
Omission of fact: Omits the name
of the man who assassinated the president. John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at the Ford’s Theatre.
Worldview
World History
(High School)
Excerpt: “
The Romans preserved classical Greek and Hellenistic culture, but did not make any significant contributions themselves to science or mathematics.
”
Factual error: Ancient Rome boasted impressive technological feats, using many advancements that were lost in the Middle Ages and not rivaled again until the 19th and 20th centuries. Excerpt:
“Politic
al democracy is seen by many as the means to achieve the equally important goals of social democracy (the right to an education, equality, and freedom from discrimination) and economic democracy (the right to choose the type of employment, to own property, and to be guaranteed a reasonable wage and
financial security).”
Editorial opinion stated as fact and Half-truth: The first part of this quote is an opinion, not fact, that the goals of social and economic democracy are equally important as those of political democracy. The last part of the quote is both contradictory and erroneous. Choosing employment and owning property are characteristics of individual liberty and free markets, i.e. political democracy. Guarantees of wages and financial security are traits of regulated markets. The text
omits that “economic democracy” is a recently coined phrase with no commonly accepted definition. A capitalist definition is that “economic democracy refers to
a society in which all persons have equal rights to work, pr
oduce, invest, and buy and sell in a free market.”
Worldview
American History II: Post-Civil War America to the Present
(High School)
Excerpt: “
Other Hispanic
–
rights organizations such as La Unida Raza, worked to improve educational, professional and social opportunities for Latin Americans.
”
Half-truth: MEChA and the La Raza movement teach that Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon and parts of Washington State make
up an area known as “Aztlan” —
a fictional ancestral homeland of the Aztecs before Europeans arrived in North America. As such, it belongs to the followers of
MEChA. These are all areas America should surrender to “La Raza” once enough immigrants, legal or illegal, enter to claim a m
ajority, as in Los Angeles. The c
urrent borders of the United States will simply be extinguished. This plan is what is referred to as the “Reconquista” or rec
onquest, of the Western U.S.
Edmentum
U.S. History
(High School)
Excerpt: “In the 1980s and 1990s, the country also experienced an
increase in the divorce rate as this practice became more socially acceptable. Finally, many Americans more readily accept same-
sex couples, leading to debates about and growing support for marriage equality.”
Omission of fact and editorial opinion states as fact: This passage leave the student with the impression that redefining marriage is a given. In the 1980s and 1990s, the country experienced an increase in the divorce rate in large part due to no-fault divorce laws.
(Lynn D. Wardle, “No
-Fault Divorce and the Divorce
Conundrum,” Brighan Young University Law Review, 1991).
Thirty-one states and two territories currently have a law or constitutional amendment restricting marriage to the union of one man and one woman and prohibit same-sex marriages, while nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage. No mention of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) enacted September 21, 1996.
Perfection
Basic Principles of American Government
(High School)
Excerpt: “The radical right consists of
groups that sometimes gather under the flag of militant anticommunism. Often known as reactionaries, they denounce most forms of government regulation, including progressive taxation and restrictions and industry. Strangely enough, these radicals would not hesitate to use the
government’s police power to enforce the changes they desire. Examples of political groups on the radical right are the John Birch Society, the National States’ Rights party, The Christian Crusade, and the Tea Party movement.”
Editorial opinion stated as fact:
There is no evidence that the Tea Party movement is militant or has used the government’s police power to enforce anything. I
f the
definition of “radical” is using the government’s police power to enforce desires changes, then th
e modern IRS, EPA, NSA and other federal departments & bureaucracies which have used the police power of the government should be included. There are many "tea party" groups that are technically unaffiliated with one
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