Schools expect textbooks to be a valuable source of

information for students. My research suggests, however,

that textbooks that address the place of Native Americans

within he history of the United States distort history to suit

(5) a particular cultural value system. In some textbooks, for

example, settlers are pictured as more humane, complex,

skillful, and wise than Native American. In essence,

textbooks stereotype and deprecate the numerous Native

American cultures while reinforcing the attitude that the

(10) European conquest of the New World denotes the superi-

ority of European cultures. Although textbooks evaluete

Native American architecture, political systems, and home-

making. I contend that they do it from an ethnocentric,

(15) European perspective without recognizing that other per-

spectives are possible.

One argument against my contention asserts that, by

nature, textbooks are culturally biased and that I am simply

underestimating children’s ability to see through these

(20) biases. Some researchers even claim that by the time

students are in high school, they know they cannot take

textbooks literally. Yet substantial evidence exists to the

contrary. Two researchers, for example, have conducted

studies that suggest that children’s attitudes about particular

(25) culture are strongly influenced by the textbooks used in

schools. Given this, an ongoing, careful review of how

school textbooks depict Native American is certainly

warranted.

155. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) describe in detail one research study regarding the impact of history textbooks on children’s attitudes and beliefs about certain cultures