What Can We Learn from Textbook Analysis?

As a fundamental resource, textbooks have the potential to shape the way we teach and learn mathematics. While a growing body of textbook analysis studies has sought better ways to improve students’ mathematics achievement, no meta-analysis has yet summarized those studies and their methods. This chapter reviews international comparative studies that analyzed learning opportunities presented in mathematics textbooks in the USA and five high-achieving Asian education systems. We summarize what research studies say about learning opportunities presented in textbooks in connection to the theoretical frameworks used, and their plausible relationship with students’ mathematics achievement. Following this description and analysis, we raise several questions and issues for mathematics education researchers to discuss, to promote a critical examination of what can be learned from the content of textbooks in other countries.