So you're saying the academic community has a bias problem and is trying to promote a political agenda?
So's law -- how adorable.
I addressed this in the post you quoted -- it would appear you weren't interested in the answer.
If that were the case, there wouldn't have been that uproar over the Texas Board of Education some months ago?
Not necessarily -- materials can be ordered by districts, schools, or even individual teachers.
A school board, like many other bureaucracies, is reactionary in nature -- they don't
cause uproars, they
react to uproars from teachers or parents.
The real question, therefore, is why didn't any parents cause an uproar until this point? Most likely, this was the first time the printable in question was used.
It should also be noted that a publisher is usually not the author of a textbook... The authors of textbooks are usually a bunch of academics, and it is compiled by an editor (who may or may not work for the publisher), the publishing company prints the actual hardcopies and the amount of input they have can vary...
Indeed -- none of which has anything to do with Common Core; thank you for supporting my point.
And you are quite correct -- textbook authors are usually professionals in their academic fields; alas, there's often a wide gulf between what they write and what eventually gets printed -- business is business, after all.
Look some schools use custom editions of textbooks, and while that can mean fewer Used versions of a book can be bought by students, it also adds to the cost for the publisher to produce. It would cost a publisher far less money to produce the regular edition of a book, but they have to cater to their customers (like universities).
True, but irrelevant to the issue at hand...
... unless you're agreeing with me when I pointed out that it's the publisher (or the publishing company, as the case may be), and not "Common Core," which determines exactly what ultimately goes into a textbook -- or a printable like the one in the OP.
I never said it was a conspiracy, I'm saying it's the result of bias that academics don't even realize they have.
You're saying this after explaining that academics don't have the final say in what gets printed...
When it comes to textbooks, publishers have to cater to their customers (the schools, state education boards, universities, etc.).
Indeed -- it's a business decision: textbook publishers want to sell as many books to as many districts as possible; no easy feat with fifty states with fifty different sets of standards... Common Core only goes so far; individual states add their own demands on top.
The reasons why textbooks tend to be so expensive have to do with limited production and royalties to various authors/universities, etc., not just the publisher trying to make money.
Never said otherwise -- academics deserve to get paid too, do they not?
It is the education boards, professors, departments of universities, etc. that select the books to be used, the publishers have to produce a product to meet the approval of their customers...
Equal parts obvious and irrelevant -- the assignment in question didn't come from a textbook, but from a worksheet -- those can come form anywhere; even off the internet.
Starnes' article only mentions
one English class in which the article was used... That explains a lot, doesn't it?
It's highly unlikely that the School Board knew about this worksheet, let alone made any decisions concerning it. Some Senior English teacher was probably using it for some busy work, and didn't expect any backlash from a throwaway vocab assignment.
Happens all the time.
Considering the fact I've worked at a bookstore that caters to students at a University, I'm well aware of the fact that a school orders lesson materials from publishers. I'm also aware of the fact that the academic community, boards of education, etc. have a lot more influence over what's in those lesson materials than you were aware of...
Considering the fact that I've been a teacher for fifteen years, I think you'd be quite surprised what I am aware of that you, clearly, are not.
Actually, his conclusions are far more plausible than your blaming the publishers.
They would be, if his conclusions were based on the facts.
For starters, who do you think writes the stuff for the publishers to include in textbooks? -- Answer: Academics
Adorable -- but this was a worksheet, not a textbook.
Who do you think writes those? -- Answer: just about anybody.
Second, the publishers have to compete with each other, and books get chosen from a selection offered by different publishers.
That would matter if we knew the assignment in question came out of a textbook.
Do we know that? No? Well, then....
Third, when you've worked in a bookstore that's catered to students and specifically worked with helping students regarding textbooks, you develop some working knowledge about how textbooks get selected for use at a school.
That's adorable -- meanwhile, when you've taught at an actual school, you are sometimes consulted as to which textbooks get selected, especially in smaller districts or private schools. If you're fortunate, your school has different books available, and you'll get some leeway regarding which ones you use.
And when it comes to handouts and worksheets -- what we in the profession call "printables" -- the sky's pretty much the limit. Teachers can use workbooks that accompany texts if the school saw fit to purchase them, we can write them up ourselves, as I have often done, or we can trade with other teachers, usually over the internet.
Cause your "corporate conspiracy" argument is not plausible...
Agreed, but only because I was making the same mistake you're making now: I thought we were dealing with a textbook, not a printable.
Now, the most plausible answer is that this was an individual teacher in an individual class who downloaded a controversial vocab worksheet from.... well, who knows where?
