AAAS Project 2061 Biology Textbooks Evaluation
About the Evaluation
The evaluation was conducted in two stages. First, content specialists (including three Ph.D.- biologists) examined the textbooks' student and teacher editions to identify places where one or more of four important biology topics were addressed--in text segments, activities, assessments, and other components. The next stage involved teams of experienced biology teachers and university faculty--all with biology backgrounds, knowledge of the research on science learning and teaching, and extensive training in the Project 2061 curriculum analysis procedure. These reviewers applied a set of research-based instructional criteria to the textbooks' treatments of the four biology topics. The instruction in each textbook was examined meticulously by a total of eight instructional analysts who worked as four independent two-member teams. This analysis required hundreds of hours of careful consideration for each textbook.
Two of the four teams examined each textbook on the topics Molecular Basis of Heredity and Natural Selection & Evolution and two other teams examined each textbook on the topics Cell Structure & Function and Matter & Energy Transformations. The teams analyzed the textbook's prescribed program--what instruction would be like if the teacher were to follow the suggestions in the teachers' guide literally. All analysts used the same criteria for evaluating each textbook and used the same methodology to rate the textbooks on the more than 100 indicators supporting the criteria. Analysts were required to provide specific evidence from the materials to justify each of their ratings.
Staff
Jo Ellen Roseman, Ph.D.
DirectorLuli Stern, Ph.D.
Biology ConsultantAnn Caldwell
Research AssociateLori Kurth
Program AssociateInstructional Analysts
Sharlene Argamaso-Hernan, Ph.D.
Baltimore County Public SchoolsAndrea Barton
University of Wisconsin-MadisonAngela Benjamin
District of Columbia Public SchoolsLeah Bricker
Indiana Department of EducationJudy Capra
Jefferson County Public Schools (Colorado)Jennifer Cartier, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-MadisonSam Donovan
University of Wisconsin-MadisonSally Duff
Baltimore City Public Schools (retired)Marlene Hilkowitz
Penn-Delco School District (Pennsylvania)Susan Johnson, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin-Madison and Madison Public SchoolsPage Keeley
Maine Department of EducationKaren Mesmer
University of Wisconsin-MadisonBarbara Neureither
Holt Public Schools (Michigan)Cynthia Passmore
University of Wisconsin-MadisonHoward Putterman
Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland)Kathleen Roth, Ph.D.
Michigan State UniversityFrancine Rowe
Edgewood College (Wisconsin)Teresa Shume
Moorhead State University (Montana)Eileen Theissen
Baltimore City Public SchoolsMolly Weinburgh, Ph.D.
Georgia State UniversityProject 2061 Biology Textbooks Evaluation Advisory Committee
Andrea Bowden
Baltimore City Public SchoolsDavid Campbell, Ph.D.
National Science FoundationWayne Carley, Ph.D.
National Association of Biology TeachersDelores Dalton
Virginia Department of EducationClarissa Evans, Ph.D.
Howard County Public Schools (Maryland)Carolyn Kornegay
District of Columbia Public SchoolsSharon Lynch, Ph.D.
George Washington UniversityGerhard Salinger, Ph.D.
National Science FoundationRochelle Slutskin
Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Maryland)Gordon Uno, Ph.D.
National Science FoundationGerald Wheeler, Ph.D.
National Science Teachers Association
Continued: Biology Textbooks and the Human Genome