Good day fellow Reddit users. First of all, my apologies for the upcoming language issues, English is not my first language.
I am looking for some help with data collection for my upcoming doctoral dissertation. In my dissertation I am examining whether (and if so, how?) high school history education in four different countries-Finland, Germany, China and the US-addresses the question of history politics (i.e. the theoretical insight that there is a strong link between history and politics, and for this reason, the interpretations of history can be, and often have been, manipulated for political purposes). My comparisons are not only limited to space (that is, I am not only doing comparisons between countries), but I am also hoping to look at how history education in the aforementioned counties has evolved over the years regarding the topic at hand. Drawing on these findings, I will try to investigate whether a convergence of educational policies is taking place on a global scale. As primary research material I will be using high school curricula and text books from the aforementioned countries from ca. 1985 onwards.
Now I am looking for some help with the collection of the American case study research material. As the American education system, like the US political system in general, is very decentralized, I will have to choose a locality which I will focus on. As I will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia in early March to attend a conference, I think because of budgetary issues it would be wise of me to gather the American case study material around Atlanta area during my trip (I would of course need to prolong my stay…) First I need to find out a few things:
I’ve asked this already before, but I am asking it once more because the situation seems rather complex: Which history textbook(s) are/have been used in high schools in the Atlanta area over the years? Who decides them? A city school board or individual schools? What about the curricula (that is, the goals and statements of purpose regarding history education)?
How can I get my hands on the newest history/social science textbooks used in the area? I presume they are commercially available?
How can I get my hands on history/social science textbooks used earlier (~1985 onwards)? Do public libraries have them, or should I contact university libraries for example? 4) Who do you think are the persons/institutions I should contact over these issues in the States/Georgia/Atlanta? Who knows about these issues and could help me forward?
To express my gratitude towards anyone willing to help me, I would of course be more than happy to present something related to history education or education in general in Finland for example at schools, researchers’ workshops etc.
I've done similar research, though in a different state. You're right that textbook choices tend to be set at the state level - so the best place to start looking is the records of Georgia's State Board of Education or Education Department. I did a quick search of the Georgia Archive's finding aid catalog and turned up many hits on "textbook," including some lists of approved textbooks and what appear to be the records of a few different textbook advisory committees or commissions. The method they use to chose textbooks appears to have changed a few times over the years so you will likely need to consult more than one group of records.
For textbooks currently in use, usually I'd expect this to be available from the state Department of Education or state Board of Education website - it should be pretty easy to find them. Check local school district/board websites too. Once you know what books you're looking for, it's very likely that you'll be able to find those books either in local libraries or through an online bookseller.
For older textbooks, my best suggestion is to find out what some of the largest/most reputable university education departments (ie, university departments that train teachers) in Georgia are, and check their libraries. Usually they will still have older textbooks in their catalog, and if you're lucky at least one of those libraries will have made a point of saving & cataloging older textbooks.
That's about the limit of any advice I can give, my main suggestion would be to just email an archivist at the Georgia Archives, see here. They are usually very helpful.
As a final side note, do you know about h-education? That's another possible source of help, but I would make sure you do some initial legwork and save tougher/more intractable questions for them :-)