Error sparks concerns over textbook selection process

Virginia schools have policies for choosing textbooks meant to ensure that accurate, high-quality books make it to children's backpacks.

So how did a history book containing an error about the Civil War land in local elementary schools this year?

School officials say it was a stroke of bad luck in an otherwise solid process. Meanwhile, some academics with an eye on textbooks say the problem goes deeper.

"The most popular history that the general public reads isn't written by historians," said Bruce Levine, a professor at the University of Illinois. "It's a really sad disjunction."

The error was caught by Carol Sheriff, a professor at the College of William and Mary. While reading her daughter's copy of "Our Virginia: Past and Present," Sheriff noticed a statement claiming that thousands of black soldiers fought for the South during the Civil War.

That isn't true, according to Sheriff and other professional historians. Confederate leaders refused to allow blacks to serve until the war was nearly over.

"Jefferson Davis barked this would 'revolt and disgust the whole South,' " Levine said. "All of this stuff is easily documentable. The facts of the matter aren't really murky."

State education officials said that errors occasionally slip through, but usually aren't this controversial. One time, for example, a NASA engineer from Suffolk caught some outdated information in the state science standards. The state later sought his input on reviewing them.

"I'm told that occasionally something is seen and brought to our attention," state schools spokesman Charles Pyle said. "We've never had this happen, where a statement is discovered that is clearly not part of the accepted scholarship in a subject."

In Virginia, the textbook selection process starts at the state level. State officials ask local divisions to recommend teachers for a review committee. For "Our Virginia," the committee was three teachers, from Fairfax, Chesterfield and Henrico counties. No historians served on the committee. The Fairfax and Henrico teachers declined to comment. The Chesterfield teacher could not be reached Thursday.

Teachers are paid $200 stipends to serve. Last year, they received the books at home in June, then met in Richmond in July to make their decisions, Pyle said. Primarily they check whether the books match state learning standards.

"They are required to review the books, to identify any bias and information, and we assume they review the textbooks carefully," Pyle said. "Typically that process works very well."

Divisions then can use the list to select their own textbooks, although they are allowed to choose books not on the list. Most draft committees of teachers then solicit input from the public

before putting the books before school boards for a vote.

In Virginia Beach, for example, the process takes about a year. First, a committee of teachers reviews books both on and off the state list. They look for whether the books meet standards set by both the state and the division, said Beach schools spokeswoman Kathleen O'Hara.

At the same time, a request for bids is sent out to publishers. Price and quality are factored in by the committee, which chooses two finalist texts.

"The committee is primarily interested in the quality of the book, but cost does figure in there," O'Hara said. "Obviously, the expense could be a tipping point."

Those books then are sent to teachers across the division and put in libraries, where parents and other community members can review them in order to give feedback. The School Board makes the final decision.

"Our Virginia" is being regularly used by fourth-graders in Norfolk and fourth- and fifth-graders in Chesapeake, and was approved as an optional resource in Suffolk and Virginia Beach. Portsmouth doesn't use the text.

James Loewen, the author of "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong," said one problem is that textbooks average 1,152 pages - far longer than committee members have time to read.

"That's absurd," he said, " the possibility that these people are going to read six of them."

Levine said there's an even bigger problem in the disconnect between the history field and K-12 education. Historians and professional academics rarely contribute to elementary school textbooks - and there's a reason, he said.

"A lot of academia has gotten more obscure in its subject matter. A lot of us write for each other," he said. "I think it's pretty clear that the general level of conversation has gotten dumbed down over the past decade."

Elisabeth Hulette, (757) 222-5216, elisabeth.hulette@pilotonline.com