[nicollo]

Unfortuntely, many don’t use textbooks anymore.

You absolutely correct and it's shocking. America is not educating its children as the system is broken.

Teachers don't know how to use textbooks. They weren't taught this essential skill in their "education" classes, and they weren't taught to use them by their own teachers growing up.

Worst of all, those same teachers assign readings on online textbooks, which, especially for history, are useless.

This all begs the question: why do textbooks persist? I have to explain this to students, as it finally makes sense to them when they understand it: student textbooks are just a small part of a curriculum delivered to schools, which more largely consists of prepared lessons, digital tools for teacher use in the classroom, pacing, student assignments, and, above all, assessments.

Once kids figure out that the assessments come from the textbook, suddenly textbooks become useful.

[LS]

It’s a habit. Teachers do their lessons tied to a text book, then are reluctant to change.

I had a conservative college instructor once tell me she wouldn’t use “Patriot’s History” and instead continued to use a lefty book because “her classes were already written.” (I.e., it was work to change to a more accurate, truthful book). But check out www.wildworldofhistory.com

It’s a great curriculum and even if you’re not teaching, my 22 lectures on US History are worth the price.