A powerful examination of the rightist resurgence in education and the challenges it presents to concerned educators, Official Knowledge analyzes the effects of conservative beliefs and strategies on educational policy and practice. Apple looks specifically at the conservative agenda's incursion into education through the curriculum, textbook adoption policies and the efforts of the private and business sectors to centralize its interests within schools. At the same time, however, he points out areas of hope for the future, showing how students and teachers have continued the struggle and are now successfully engaged in building more democratic education policies and practices. Finally, Apple writes in personal terms about his own teaching techniques and work with students which challenge some of the ideological and educational policies and practices of the Right.

This book is about the social, political and cultural content of elementary and secondary textbooks in American education. It focuses on the nature of the discourses—the content and context—that represent what is included in textbooks.

In recent years, textbooks have been widely criticized for low standards, lack of imaginativeness, and insensitivity to racial and gender issues. Increasingly, they are cited as another "weak link" in American public education. This book goes beyond the headlines to examine how textbooks are produced, how they are selected, and what pressures are placed on textbook authors and publishers. The book focuses on the relationship of the textbook to the educational system and includes important issues such as the politics of textbook policy, the determinants of textbook content, the role of textbooks in educational reform, and the process of selection at the state level. The authors offer current research on textbook policy including perspectives from those directly involved with textbooks—from several thoughtful analyses by textbook editors and publishers to the views of California's Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Part 1, Books, Group 1, v. 25 : Nos. 1-121 (March - December, 1928)