ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 7, 1997 TAG: 9703070049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER THE ROANOKE TIMES
A textbook fair was arranged because the schools are adapting to meet the state's new academic standards, and need new books.
Open an American history textbook for high school students now and you'll find a spread on Bill Gates, founder of the Microsoft computer empire.
Actor Michael Douglas, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Gates are in the same textbooks with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.
You'll also find President Clinton, Bob Dole and Ross Perot. And Gennifer Flowers, Anita Hill and Dick Morris.
The Republicans' 1996 Contract with America is in the schoolbooks along with the Declaration of Independence as documents that have influenced the country's history.
Gay rights and same-sex marriages have joined slavery and women's suffrage as issues for students to study.
The latest textbooks include information on the collapse of communism and the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.
The court fight over the admission of women at Virginia Military Institute has become a case study in freedom and equality in a new U.S. government textbook that will be used in classrooms across the country next year.
No longer are history and government textbooks mere chronicles of the past, of the events and historical figures that generations of students traditionally have studied.
The new schoolbooks cover recent political events and issues in ways that sometimes more closely resemble newspapers and news magazines than traditional texts.
Some publishers are marketing video updates of even more current news stories and events, which can be used as supplements to textbooks.
Some new American history books on display at a social studies textbook fair in the Roanoke Valley this week included the results and analysis of the 1996 presidential election.
Jo Eggers, a sales representative for McGraw-Hill, said the giant publishing company tries to update its schoolbooks often to make them timely.
McGraw-Hill, the world's largest textbook company, has included a chapter on the most recent presidential election in the latest edition of its "History of a Free Nation."
Educators said timely textbooks help get students' attention and generate interest in subjects that many consider dull.
"Perhaps the greatest challenge we face is that of engaging students' interest in curriculum they often regard as 'boring' and `irrelevant,''' said Chris Stevenson, an associate professor of education at the University of Vermont, in the teacher's handbook to one history text.
"Our initial challenge is to establish a classroom climate that provokes genuine student interest and that invites their exploration."
Judy Thomas, a history teacher at William Byrd High School in Roanoke County, said publishers seem to compete to have the latest information in their schoolbooks. The books are more attractive now, with more pictures and other features to appeal to students, she said.
Bob Lee, an economics teacher and sales representative for EMC Publishing, said students should be able to relate to textbooks and to find their courses relevant to their life.
Lee said an economics textbook that his company displayed at the fair covers current issues and events, including the North America Free Trade Agreement, with case studies that help students understand the impact of economics on their lives.
"If you can't figure out a way to make economics fun, you are in trouble," Lee told teachers. "I use a lot of information from USA Today and other newspapers when I'm teaching. I use the advertisements in the Sunday newspapers sometimes."
Social studies coordinators for Roanoke, Salem and Roanoke County arranged the textbook fair because all three school systems are adapting to meet the state's new academic standards.
Extensive changes were made in the social studies curriculum in the new standards, which are the benchmarks of the content and skills that students are expected to master at each grade level.
Part of the history and social studies content has been moved to lower grades, making some teachers responsible for new materials.
Under the standards, some children in the second and third grades will study Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture and history for the first time.
In the middle and high school grades, there have been changes in the sequence and timing of some civics, geography and history courses.
A main criterion in the selection of new textbooks will be the content in the state's new standards, said Susan Arnold, an American history teacher at Glenvar High School.
"We have to make sure that all of the standards are there'' in whatever text is selected, Arnold said.
Eighteen textbook publishers and five trade book vendors exhibited their products for teachers, school administrators and parents at the fair. The school systems have appointed textbook adoption committees to review books and make recommendations to the school boards.
David Wymer, social studies supervisor for Roanoke County schools, said 160 teachers, administrators and parents are serving on adoption committees for each grade in the county.
Wymer said the textbooks are rated on general format, accuracy, readability, appendix and glossary support. All books are also evaluated to determine whether content correlates to the state's academic standards.
The new textbooks will be expensive for the school systems. Economics, government and history books for middle and high school can cost $50 each. Video updates and computer software for some courses cost about $100.
Roanoke County will probably spend between $700,000 and $800,000 for new social studies textbooks for all grades, Wymer said.
Roanoke has already bought some textbooks for the state's academic standards, but it expects to spend another $470,000, mainly for social studies texts.
Wymer said the adoption committees are reviewing the textbooks carefully to make sure they make the best choice.
"If we're going to spend that kind of money, we want to make sure we do it right," he said.
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN THE ROANOKE TIMES Bedford Elementaryby CNBSchool teacher Teresa Craver looks over textbooks offered by Franl
Wypasek of Prentice Hall at the social studies textbook fair.
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2. pages from modern textbooks.