The 1993 basals versus the 1987 versions: Examining four reading series for the proportion of literature-based stories, adaptions, and award-winning literature

In the past, evaluations of basal reading series have suggested using less tightly controlled stories, usually written by the publishing companies to fit a readability formula, and more on using children's literature in the anthologies. This would also eliminate the need for extensive adaptions that have characterized those reading series. This study examined literature-based stories found in first-grade student anthologies (basals), the adaptions made to those stories, and any award-winning stories found in that literature. Four current reading series were examined: Houghton Mifflin, Scott Foresman, Macmillan/McGraw Hill, and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. The findings answered these questions: (1) What is the difference in the proportion of literature-based stories between the 1987 editions of the first-grade basal reading series and the 1993 editions? (2) What is the difference in the proportion of trade book stories adapted and the types of adaptions made between the 1987 first-grade basals and the 1993 first-grade basals? (3) What is the difference in the proportion of award-winning literature between the 1987 editions of first-grade basal reading series and the 1993 editions? This was a descriptive study in which frequency distributions and percentage scores were calculated. Results indicated there were significant differences in the proportions of literature-based stories, and the proportion of adaptions, and awards across the editions. In 1987, 17% of the stories in the first-grade basal were literature-based, while in 1993, that proportion increased to 87%. In 1987, 92% of the trade book stories in the basal were adapted, with sentence adaptions being the most common type of adaptions. In 1993, 14% of the trade book stories were adapted, with punctuation adaptions being the most common type. For both years the proportion of award-winning literature was 5%.