ATC

Widely Adopted History Textbooks

HOME

About Us
Publications & Reports
Contact Us
California Update
Widely Adopted History
Textbooks
Senate Testimony
Review Guidelines
Islam
Textbook Publishing

Lists of widely adopted and widely used history textbooks are the information most frequently requested from the American Textbook Council. This information is not as easy to obtain as many researchers think it is. Educational publishers are extremely secretive about the volume and sales of all elementary- and high school level- textbooks, and because of the nature of their market, are able to keep such information opaque. No reliable one-to-ten-type best-seller list can be constructed in history or any other area of the curriculum.

The Council's databases, developed since 1986 and updated regularly, survey key states and large school districts to determine what are the nation's most widely adopted textbooks in history and social studies. Based on major adoptions in Texas (2003) and California (2005) as well as in Indiana, North Carolina, Florida, and New York, the American Textbook Council has identified the nation's most widely adopted United States and world history textbooks used in elementary and secondary schools, or new textbooks that are being introduced nationwide by the three major publishers. The number of textbook titles continues to shrink as social studies publishing is now consolidated in a few diverse media companies. The recent absorption of Harcourt/Holt into Houghton Mifflin further narrows the field and choices available to teachers.

The Council is often asked to award grades or make blanket recommendations about history textbooks, a practice that we try to avoid. Too many variables enter into the textbook selection process. The premier problem in history and social studies textbooks is the lack of real choice that teachers have. Almost every textbook varies internally by lesson and unit, making assessments of overall quality difficult.

To give some guidance to educators who need quick assistance and a place to begin, the history textbooks listed below that have been adjudged in content and design satisfactory or superior to their competition in previous Council bulletins and studies are marked with a plus (+). Textbooks that have been adjudged grossly deficient or inaccurate in reviews are marked with a minus (-). Unmarked textbooks are of mixed quality. Each of the following textbooks is identified alphabetically by publisher, first designated author, and abridged title. BL denotes a book that has been backlisted, i.e., it is no longer actively sold as "new" yet is for sale as inventory. Such books are gradually being retired or may be niche sellers with enduring popularity.

Elementary social studies (multi-grade programs)

Harcourt/Holt	Social Studies (+)
Houghton Mifflin	Social Studies
Houghton Mifflin	We the People (-)
McGraw-Hill	Adventures in Time and Place (-)
Pearson/Core Knowledge	History and Geography (+)
Pearson/Scott Foresman	Social Studies

Of the new social studies programs introduced into California in 2005, the newly produced Holt and Prentice Hall sixth and seventh grade world history textbooks are the strongest, best organized instructional materials available for these grade levels. Of special distinction is the ten-volume Oxford University Press series called "A History of US," a panoramic narrative of American history. These highly regarded trade books, originally published in 1991 and adopted by several states as history textbooks, are aimed at fifth and eighth graders. They may be used in elementary or junior high school classrooms as alternatives to standard textbooks or as supplemental texts.

Secondary social studies textbooks

The following books have been included in major adoptions that, combined, hold an estimated 80 percent of the national market in United States and world history, grades eight to twelve. These stand-alone titles do not include junior high school texts from Glencoe, Holt, McDougal Littell, Prentice Hall, and other publishers that are parts of multi-volume programs or series.

United States history

This first group of textbooks is aimed at the eighth grade-level, even though some are widely adopted for use in high school classrooms as easy readers.

McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Appleby	American Journey
Pearson/Prentice Hall	Davidson	The American Nation (-)
Houghton Mifflin/McDougal	Garcia	Creating America
BL Harcourt/Holt	Stuckey	Call to Freedom

This group of textbooks is aimed at the eleventh grade:

Harcourt/Holt	Ayers	American Anthem (new)
Pearson/Prentice Hall	Boorstin	A History of the United States (+)
Pearson/Prentice Hall	Cayton	America: Pathways to the Present (+)
Houghton Mifflin/McDougal	Danzer	The Americans
McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Nash	American Odyssey (-)
BL Harcourt/Holt	Boyer	Boyer's The American Nation (-)

World history

This group of textbooks is aimed at grades seven and eight but are not parts of multi-volume programs or series:

Pearson/Prentice Hall	Ahmad	World Cultures
Harcourt/Holt	Helgren	People, Places, and Change (-)
Houghton Mifflin	Nash	To See a World (-)
McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Spielvogel	Journey Across Time
McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Greenblatt	Human Heritage (+)

This group of textbooks is aimed at grades nine and above. Some text versions appear with title variations. For example, World History: Connections to Today also appears as The Modern World and The Modern Era:

Pearson/Prentice Hall	Ellis	Connections to Today (-)
Houghton Mifflin/McDougal	Garcia	Patterns of Interaction
Harcourt/Holt	n.a.	The Human Journey
McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Spielvogel	World History (+)
BL McGraw-Hill/Glencoe	Farah	The Human Experience (+)