Secondary Biology Textbooks and National Standards for English Learners

Abstract

ABSTRACTGiven secondary teachers’ dependence on textbooks for curricular and instructional guidance, the challenges introduced by increasingly diverse classrooms in the United States, and national efforts to provide equitable access to science for all students, this study examined the alignment between three popular high school biology textbooks and the tenets of four national standards. The standards, Benchmarks for Science Literacy (the national science content standards when the textbooks were published), The CREDE Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy and Learning, World‐Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) English Language Proficiency Standards, and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study Standards (TIMSS), were chosen as representative of nationally accepted ways of meeting the discipline‐specific content, pedagogical, linguistic, and cognitive needs of English learners (ELs). Descriptive content analysis revealed that the instructional helps (textual tools) found in all three textbooks had some level of alignment with all four standards. However, not all chapters or instructional units included explicit recommendations for teaching ELs, and the overall alignment ranged from low to moderate across textbooks. Equally concerning was that many important instructional recommendations from the standards, particularly those designed to develop and challenge student thinking, were implicit or completely absent. Implications for textbook publishers, textbook adoption committees, teachers, and teacher educators are discussed.