We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
State involvement in limiting textbook choice by school districts.
- Authors
Phillips, Michelle
- Abstract
Who gets to decide what textbooks are used in America's public school classrooms varies by state. States can let each school district decide, provide standards that must be followed and make available an incomplete listing of books meeting those standards, or allow schools to choose books only from a list provided by the state. I present a model that provides an explanation for state limits on textbook selection by school districts. I examine the roles played by decision making costs, effectiveness of voters, religious composition, power of teachers, and propensity of state governments to interfere with or to help districts in textbook selection policies at the state level. There has been virtually no research on this topic. My findings corroborate the extant literature that addresses interference by state governments in local affairs and extend the morality politics literature by finding a strong link between religious fundamentalism and state-level policies. I also find that state book lists are less likely (1) in more educated states, where voters are better able to select the most appropriate textbook, (2) in states with smaller school districts, where voters are more involved in the schools, and (3) in states with stronger teacher unions, giving teachers more power in textbook selection.
- Subjects
UNITED States; TEXTBOOKS; EDUCATION policy; UNITED States education system; STATE governments; EDUCATIONAL law &; legislation; RELIGIOUS fundamentalism; SCHOOL district management; GOVERNMENT policy
- Publication
Public Choice, 2014, Vol 160, Issue 1/2, p181
- ISSN
0048-5829
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s11127-013-0075-9