School Districts Display Controversial Texts : Education: The history books are being used in Santa Paula on a trial basis. Ethnic and religious groups criticized the series at state hearings.

A controversial series of history books recently approved for California’s public schools is already being used on a trial basis in at least one Ventura County school district, and the books went on display Monday in other districts to give parents a chance to review the texts.

Approved in October by the State Board of Education, the books take a new approach to teaching history, de-emphasizing such events as Columbus’ “discovery” of America and including more information on non-Western and non-European history, culture and religion than previous textbooks did.

At hearings during the approval process in Sacramento, the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade series was criticized by a variety of groups, including Latinos, blacks, Asian-Americans, Jews, Muslims and gays.

The publisher, Houghton Mifflin, made some revisions in response to the criticisms, but defended other areas, which were left unchanged, according to a report from the Curriculum Commission, which advises the state board.

A reference to slavery as a “lifestyle” in one of the books was eliminated, although the publisher defended its overall depiction of slavery as historically rich and evocative of the horrors of the condition.

However, the publisher’s response to concerns from gay and lesbian groups that homosexuals are not treated as a minority group was that the California curriculum framework for history does not recognize homosexuals as a minority or cultural group.

On Monday, the Hueneme Elementary School District put the revised edition of the bright blue books, along with teachers’ editions and supplemental material, on display at the district offices, seeking public comment before they are considered for adoption and use in classrooms, said Assistant Supt. Nikki L. Davis.

The books are also available for public viewing in the district offices of Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley Elementary School District, the Ventura Unified School District, and at the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office at Camarillo Airport.

Since October, the books have been used on a pilot basis in the Santa Paula Elementary School District, Assistant Supt. Bonnie Bruington said.

“I think it’s a fine program in the sense that they have made what appears to be a pretty giant leap in the development of textbooks,” Bruington said. The district will decide in January whether to adopt the books, she said.

Mary Stillman, an eighth-grade teacher at Santa Paula’s Isbell Intermediate School, said she and two other Isbell teachers now using the text are very enthusiastic.

“They’re by far the best history books we’ve had available, from a lot of points of view,” said Stillman, who praised the books’ use of narrative and storytelling techniques. “I’ve never seen such broad coverage of ethnic backgrounds, and they’re extremely readable, the kind of thing children will pick up and read for enjoyment.”

Stillman cited chapters on Islam in the seventh-grade book, “Across the Centuries.” “Islam is terribly important with the situation in the Middle East being what it is,” she said. “Kids need a good background so they can understand it better.”

She said several McKevett School parents who reviewed their children’s copies and saw the book at an open house have asked how they can buy copies for home use.

While Davis of the Hueneme district also praised the books’ diversity, she said some cultural information is “lacking . . . . You do not get a real good feel for the culture. But that’s OK because we feel the best way to do that is through literature.”

The board of the Pleasant Valley district is scheduled to vote on adoption of the books on Dec. 13, said district library Supervisor Adele Feldman. The district’s social studies and instructional materials committees have recommended adoption of the books, Feldman said.

Conejo Valley Unified officials said samples of the book are at every school, and they will begin using the books in a pilot program later this school year.

In the Simi Valley Unified School District, a recent shipment of sample copies was destroyed in last week’s devastating warehouse fire, but the district has requested new copies and will use them in a pilot program when they are received, Assistant Supt. Allan Jacobs said.

“I don’t think it could be possible to write a social science textbook without having controversy,” Jacobs said. “History is replete with lots of questions about if it happened this way or that way, or what emphasis there should be.”

Marian White, manager of curriculum development in the Oxnard Elementary School District, said copies are available for teachers at each of the district’s schools. She said the district will decide in March or April whether to adopt the books for use.

“I would urge parents, if they do have some concerns,” White said, “to take the time to go out to the instructional material center at the airport to look the materials over.”

BACKGROUND

The state Board of Education approved the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies series for use in California schools on Oct. 12. As required by a revised state framework for teaching history and social studies, the books, for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, incorporate geography, archeology, language arts and other subject areas. Although they include more information on minority groups, culture and religion than previous textbooks, they were criticized by several ethnic scholars and organizations. Houghton Mifflin made several corrections in response to some of the criticism.