Science Textbooks Full of Errors

R A L E I G H, N.C., Jan. 15, 2001 -- Twelve of the most popular science

textbooks used at middle schools across the nation are riddled with

errors, according to a two-year study led by a North Carolina State

University researcher.

The errors range from maps depicting the equator passing throughthe southern United States to a photo of singer Linda Ronstadtlabeled as a silicon crystal.

None of the 12 textbooks has an acceptable level of accuracy,according to N.C. State physics professor John Hubisz, the report'sauthor.

"These are terrible books, and they're probably a strongcomponent of why we do so poorly in science," on standardizedtests, he said.

"The books have a very large number of errors, many irrelevantphotographs, complicated illustrations, experiments that could notpossibly work, and drawings that represented impossiblesituations."

The study was financed with a $64,000 grant from the Lucille andDavid Packard Foundation.

Liberty’s Torch in Wrong Hand

Among the books included in the study was a multi-volumePrentice Hall series called "Science," which has been used byseveral North Carolina school systems.

Errors in some editions of that series, according to Hubisz,include an incorrect depiction of what happens to light when itpasses through a prism, a reversed photo of the Statue of Libertyshowing the torch in the wrong hand, and the Ronstadt photo.

Prentice Hall acknowledges some errors, partly because statesalter standards at the last minute and publishers have to rush tomake changes.

"We may have to change a photograph because of a new contentobjection, and the caption isn't changed with the photograph,"said Wendy Spiegel, a spokeswoman for Prentice Hall's parentcompany, Pearson Education. "But we believe we have the bestpractices to ensure accuracy."

Last year, the company launched a thorough audit of itstextbooks for accuracy and posted a Web site with corrections, shesaid.

Five Hundred Pages of Errors

Hubisz enlisted a team of researchers, ranging from middleschool teachers to college professors, to review the 12 books forfactual errors. The researchers compiled 500 pages of errors, whichwere boiled down to a 100-page report.

"These are basic errors," he said. "It's stuff that anyonewho had taken a science class would be able to catch."

One textbook even misstates Newton's first law of physics, whichhas been a staple of physical science for centuries.

Hubisz, who has received requests for copies of his study fromas far away as Japan and Scandinavia, called Glencoe/McGraw-Hillbooks "the best of the worst."

The worst of the worst?

"Probably Prentice Hall," he said Sunday.

Teachers Under-Trained, Expert Says

Teachers, administrators, parents and curriculum specialiststypically review books before they are used in a classroom. InNorth Carolina, a state committee approves a list of textbooks forthe public schools. Each school system then picks its books fromthat list.

But Hubisz, president of the American Association of PhysicsTeachers, said many middle-school science teachers have littlephysical science training and may not recognize errors.

Also, many states - and local school districts within thosestates - tend to follow the lead of state officials in Texas,California and Florida, the three biggest textbook purchasers,Hubisz said.

"We estimated maybe 85 percent of children in the United Statesprobably use these books," he said.

Who Writes These Books?

The study's reviewers tried to contact the authors withquestions, Hubisz said, but in many cases the people listed saidthey didn't write the book, and some didn't even know their nameshad been listed. Some of the authors of a physical science book,for example, were biologists. Hubisz said educators need to pressure publishers to get "realauthors" for textbooks.

"We're really trying to get the publishers to do something,"he said. "They get people to check for political correctness; …they try to get in as much cultural diversity as possible. … Theyjust don't seem to understand what science is about."

Hubisz said the study panel contacted publishers, who for themost part either dismissed the panel's findings or promisedcorrections in subsequent editions.

Reviews of later editions turned up more errors thancorrections, the report said.