EVALUATION OF CONTENT AND READABILITY OF RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS ON AGRICULTURE FOR UPPER BASIC EDUCATION IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the adequacy of the content and the readability of the recommended textbooks on Agriculture for Upper Basic Education in Enugu state.                                                                                                                   Eighteen research questions were posed and answered by the study. Evaluation research design was adopted. The population of the study was the 29 recommended textbooks on Agriculture for Upper Basic Education schools in Enugu state. The sample for the study was 27 recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for Upper Basic Education schools in Enugu state. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the textbooks. All the 27 main textbooks which are separate volumes for either of the upper basic education I or II or III students’ class levels were selected. Quantitative Approach to Content Evaluation of Science Textbooks (QACEST) with A 5-point Quantitative model instrument was used by the expert lecturers to obtain information on the topical coverage, learning activities illustrations, chapter summaries and study questions variables of the content of the textbooks, while Cloze procedure was used to develop the Readability Tests of the Recommended Agriculture Textbooks (RTRAT) instrument, which was used to obtain information from the students on the readability of the textbooks. The RTRAT instrument is of three categories: RTRAT I version of the instrument for Upper Basic Education (UBE) I students, RTRAT II version of the instrument for UBE II students and RTRAT III version of the instrument for UBE III students. Each version of the RTRAT instrument test items were drawn from the passages of the textbooks for each class level. Each class level test items consists of 180 words which were omitted in the drawn passages and were filled by each students of a particular class level. The QACEST and RTRAT instruments were face validated by three experts. The temporary stability of the RTRAT instrument test items was determined using test re-test method. The sets of scores obtained were correlated using Spearman rank order correlation coefficient, which yielded coefficients of 0.85, 0.80 and 0.70 for RTRAT I, RTRAT II and RTRAT III versions of the instrument respectively. Three hundred and ninety-eight copies of the RTRAT questionnaire were administered to the students through the researcher and the three research assistants. All the administered 398 copies of the RTRAT questionnaire were retrieved and analyzed. QACEST Index which consists of  Topical coverage index (TCI), Learning activities index (LAI), Illustrations index (ILI), Chapter summaries index (CSI) and Study questions index (SQI) were used to analyze data that answered research questions 1 to 15, while percentage and bar charts were used to analyze data for answering research questions 16 to 18. It was found out that the content of 2 of the 27 evaluated textbooks were inadequate in learning activities, illustrations, chapter summaries and study questions variables. It was also found that 25 out of the 27 books were not readable while 2 were readable. It was recommended that the Enugu state ministry of education should ensure that the authors improve on their books by providing for the deficits found in the textbooks in their subsequent editions.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Agriculture is the art of growing crops and rearing animals for man’s use. Adelkan, Duru, Laleye, Bayero and Idowu (2009), defined agriculture as the  science and practice of cultivating the soil, growing, harvesting of crops and rearing of livestock to provide food for man and raw materials for industry. In the submission of Onuigbo (2009), agriculture is the cultivation of crops, raising animals, breeding livestock, processing, storage, distribution and marketing of agricultural products.

Agriculture is very important to man’s existence. Ojo and Olatunji (2012), noted that agriculture is important to man and the society in producing food for man and animals, clothing, shelter, fuel (fire wood), income and employment for the citizens. Other importance of agriculture is provision of raw material for industries, market for agro-allied industries and materials for recreation (horse for polo game and aquarium) among others. Importance of agriculture is implicit in the first goal of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which stipulated that poverty and hunger are to be eradicated in the world by 2015. The MDGs are eight goals articulated to address the world’s main development challenges, which are to be achieved by 2015. The MDGs were drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the United Nations Millennium Summit held from Wednesday 6^th September to Friday 8^th September 2000 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.  The eight goals as contained in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (2008) document are:

Goal 1is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, Goal 2 is to achieve universal primary education, Goal 3 is to promote gender equality and empower women, Goal 4 is to reduce child mortality, Goal 5 is to improve maternal health, Goal 6 is to combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases, Goal 7 is to ensure environmental sustainability and Goal 8 is to develop a global partnership for development.

With the adoption of the goals and the contents of the MDGs, many countries of the world have embarked on curriculum reforms to achieve the MDGs goals.  In Nigeria, the National Council on Education (NCE) at its meeting in Ibadan in December 2005 directed the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to develop a new curriculum. The mandate by the NCE on the NERDC resulted in the        9-Year Basic Education Curriculum. The above mandate was affirmed by Obioma in NERDC (2007) when the author noted that

following the decision of the federal government to introduce the 9-year basic education   programme, and the need to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, and by extension, the need to implement the National Economic and Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDs), it has become imperative that the existing curricula for primary and junior secondary schools be reviewed, re-structured and re-aligned to the 9–Year Basic Education Programme.

The author further stated that the Basic Education Curriculum structure is made up of Lower Basic Education Curriculum (Primaries 1-3), Middle Basic Education Curriculum (Primaries 4-6) and Upper Basic Education Curriculum (JSS 1-3), each with the corresponding subjects .

One of the subjects which is of interest to the researcher at the upper basic education level is Agriculture.  The new curriculum on Agriculture as a subject at the nine year basic education has four objectives, which include making students:

1. develop interest in Agriculture; (affective domain)
2. acquire basic knowledge and skills of Agriculture (cognitive and psychomotor domains)
3. apply the knowledge and skills acquired to meet societal needs (psychomotor domain).
4. take advantage of the numerous career opportunities offered by Agriculture, and become prepared for further studies in Agriculture (NERDC in Onu & Ugwuoke, 2011).

These objectives indicate that the three domains of learning – the cognitive, the affective and psychomotor domains are emphasized.

In order to achieve the above objectives, many interested authors embarked on development of teaching and learning materials to help teachers in teaching the subject, which resulted to different agricultural textbooks. In the submission of The State of Indiana (TSI, 2009), textbook is a systematically organized material designed to provide a specific level of instruction in a subject matter. Textbook in the view of Schneider (2007), is a teaching tool or material that presents the subject matter defined by the curriculum. In the statement of Goslin (2013), a textbook is a printed and bound artifact for a course of study and contains facts and ideas around a certain subject. The author noted that textbooks are not like other books, because they are made to follow a set standard curriculum for a school system. Agriculture textbook is therefore a teaching tool or material that presents the curriculum content of Agriculture.

Textbook as a teaching tool or learning material has certain qualities that make it effective in teaching and learning.  In the view of Asogwa in Igbokwe and Eze (2009), the factors to be considered in selecting a textbook for use by students include: Content coverage, appropriateness to the class level/age; key principles precisely and clearly stated; detailed and consistent explanations and interpretation; good text structure and layout among others. In the submission of Spicuzza (2009), the criteria expected to be present in textbook material for use in classrooms in South Washington County schools are: general information about the textbook and supporting materials; content; lesson design and instructional strategies, assessment; and universal design. It therefore means that the content of a textbook is a generally accepted criterion for its selection.

Content of a textbook is the total knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to be learnt in a subject by the learners, which are presented by the author(s) in the book. Content of a textbook in the view of Spicuzza (2009) refers to an accurate and appropriate depth coverage of all the topics, provision of references for students, identification of outcomes and goals to the students, clear presentation and addressing of specific vocabulary and appropriate illustrations in a book.  In the view of Nworgu as cited in Okafor (2008), content of textbook refers to its topical coverage, learning activities, study questions, illustrations and chapter summaries.  This last view of the concept of content of textbook is a more operationalized (stated in measurable form) concept and will be equally adopted for this study.

The value of each indicator of content (topical coverage, chapter summaries, illustrations, study questions and learning activities) of a textbook need to be determined to give an index of the content of the entire textbook. Such index obtained on a textbook can be used to judge the worth of a textbook, and this is evaluation.

Evaluation is the estimation of the worth of a thing, process or programme in order to reach meaningful decisions about that thing, process or programme (National Teachers’ Institute NTI, 2009). Evaluation equally means a systematic assessment of the worth or merit of object, person, programme, policy, technology, need, activity, among others, with a view to taking decision among possible alternatives (Ramafikeng 2004). Content evaluation therefore, refers to the determination of qualities or worth of a textbook with reference to topical coverage index, chapter summaries index, illustration index, study question index and learning activity index (Nworgu, 2001).

Topical coverage means the extent the outlines (topics) of the curriculum content or headings in a syllabus are included and treated in a textbook. In the submission of Nworgu (2001), topical coverage means the extent the content of a text covers the prescribed curriculum or syllabus. Topical coverage according to Nworgu consists of “surface coverage” and “depth coverage”. Surface coverage is the proportion of topics in the curriculum or syllabus covered by a textbook while depth coverage is the level of treatment given to those topics covered. Topical coverage in the context of the study is the proportion of the main topics and the sub topics in the curriculum/syllabus that are treated in a textbook. Chapter summary in the view of Novackovich (2011) is a brief restatement of the central ideas of the content of a chapter in one’s own words. Miksen (2012) defined chapter summary as a condensed form of the chapter itself which could allow one to understand the main ideas and major points easier than reading the entire chapter. Chapter summary, in the submission of Nworgu (2001), refers to the extent the main ideas (summary) of each chapter promote permanent understanding of the content of the text. The author noted that its operationalized definition is the difference in the proportion of sentences in the chapter summaries which are activity oriented and those which are traditional and promote passivity of the learners. Chapter summary in the context of the study is the proportion of sentences in the condensed form of each chapter which promote permanent learning and transfer of learning, and those, which are mere repetitions of the chapter.                                                                                              Illustrations are works of art created to enhance understanding of concepts, principles, theories, laws, structures, systems and objects in a book. Illustration in the opinion of Bland (2004) is any type of picture or decoration used in conjunction with a text to embellish its appearance or to clarify its meaning. In the submission of Smith (2009), illustration refers to drawings, paintings, photographs or other works of arts that is created to clarify information. Illustration, in the context of the study, are the use of figures, charts, diagrams, tables, pictograms, graphs, among others, by author to promote better understanding of the content of the textbook. Study questions are test items presented in each chapter of a textbook for the readers to assess their understanding of the chapter they read. Study questions in the view of Nworgu (2001), are questions provided in the text which pose challenges to the learners, require the learner to do some thinking (higher order questions), as well as those which demand mere regurgitation of the knowledge acquired from the text. Study questions  in the context of the study refer to test items in a textbook which encourage the leaner to be more creative, ask and seek answers to top demanding questions (higher order questions), as well as lower order questions. Learning, activities are things contained in a textbook which require actions (mental/physical actions) to be performed by the learners for the purpose of learning the content of the subject in a textbook. Nworgu (2011) noted that learning activities are those activities (intellectual or otherwise) that ensure optimal participation or involvement of the learner in the material to be learnt. The author further stated that it is operationally defined as the difference between the proportions of the sentences that require some activities to be performed by the learner, and those sentences that require passivity or mere reception of information by the learner. Learning activities in the context of the study are things presented in textbooks demanding intellectual or physical actions from the learners with a view to promoting optimal participations of the learners in the materials to be learnt. The above indicators of content of a textbook could be appropriate, yet the book may not be effective in teaching and learning because of its readability.

Readability refers to the difficulty a reader of a certain level of reading skills may experience in going through and understanding (reading) a piece of written material.  In the statement of Stamp, Kakui, Sesilla, Ofa, Aoeta, Liliu, Salote, Tara, Sateki, Leela, Hari, Maya, Akilesh, Teaukura and Indar (2012), readability means the relative ease with which people can respond in various ways to passages of written prose.  Readability in the context of the study is a measure of the degree of understanding of the information contained in the textbooks on Agriculture by the upper basic education students in Enugu State.  Readability of textbooks no doubt affects the students’ achievement in schools. Stamp et al (2012) noted that teachers ought to be aware of the importance of selecting materials which pupils can read and understand.  The author further added that if the text material is too difficult, pupils may become frustrated and turn away from the topics, which invariably leads to failure.  Another important aspect of readability of Agriculture textbook with regards to the upper basic education students is their class levels.  Most of the students, especially the upper basic education one (JSSI) are studying the subject Agriculture, in relative details for the first time. Therefore, they are faced with the problems of understanding technical concepts in agriculture.  Besides, some of the authors of the textbooks treat the entire contents of the Agriculture curriculum for all the upper basic students in single textbook, without giving any consideration to the class levels. This may equally affect the students’ performance negatively. Blanc (2012) had noted that forcing children to read at a higher reading level will create resentment and boredom. The author further stated that if a child does not understand the words or concepts presented in the book, the person will not enjoy the act of reading and may never want to read another book. This implies that his/her academic performance will be affected negatively. Such negative effects on the academic performances of the students demand that investigation on the appropriateness of the textbooks in use be made.

The negative effect of poor readability of textbooks has been a worrisome issue to educators and researchers long ago. This made them to seek for ways of measuring it in text materials in the early part of the 19^th century. Precisely, its history dates back to 1921 when Thorndike published the Teacher’s Word Book, which provided a means for measuring the difficult words and developed the mathematical formulae for it (Stephens 2012). Since then, readability formula method which include Fog index test, Lesch test, among others and cloze procedure method have been developed for measuring readability. Cloze test was developed by Taylor in 1953, and in 1965, formulae were developed for its use (Stephens 2012). Cloze procedure consists of deleting every nth word in a text and asking the reader to fill in the appropriate or similar word. Usually, every fifth word is deleted. Cloze is thought to offer a better index of comprehensibility than the statistical formulae (Stephens 2012). The ability to identify missing word or to insert a satisfactory substitute for the original word indicates that the reader comprehends the content of the text. Cloze procedure is a popular method for measuring the suitability of text for a particular audience because its scoring is objective, easy to use and analyze, and it uses the text itself for analysis which yield’s high correlations to other formulae (Stephens 2012). Therefore, the study adopted cloze procedure because of its effectiveness in measuring readability.  Stamp et al (2012) noted that of the two key methods for measuring readability, that is, the readability formula and cloze procedure methods, cloze procedure has provided a more adequate method of measuring passage difficulty. The authors further stated that because cloze readability tests are made entirely from a set of standard mechanical (routine) operations, they are not subject to the biases that test writers may impose during the writing of conventional tests. Emphasizing the effectiveness of the cloze test for measuring readability, Stamp et al (2012) reported a study carried out in Papua New Guinea by Anderson of Australia to determine the cloze test percentage scores that correspond to the multiple-choice test scores of 75% and 90%. The result obtained by Anderson was similar to those of other researchers who investigated into the same topic but in different countries. Bormuth of America in 1967 and 1968 respectively; and Rankin and Culhane of U.S.A, were the researchers who equally carried out a study on cloze test percentage scores that correspond to the multiple-choice test scores of 75% and 90% using students’ in each researcher’s country. For the multiple-choice test criterion level of 75%, cloze test percentage scores of 38, 44, 41 and 44 were obtained by Bormuth in 1967, Bormuth in 1968, Rankin and Culhane, and Anderson respectively. For the multiple-choice test criterion level of 90%, cloze test percentage scores of 50, 57, 61 and 53 were obtained by Bormuth in 1967, Bormuth in 1968, Rankin and Culhane, and Anderson respectively. Anderson then concluded that if results from independent investigations conducted in different countries and within different educational systems seems remarkably close, then it is evidence that points to the reliability and effectiveness of the cloze procedure method. Cloze procedure could therefore be effective for determining the readability of the agriculture textbooks for the upper basic education students in Enugu state, and this would help students acquire good agriculture textbooks for learning.

The concept of good textbook as teaching and learning material is relative. Nworgu (2001) noted that good textbook for educational purpose depends on the relevance of the text to instructional setting. Instructional settings however vary with time and place. Instructional setting depends on learners’ characteristics, culture, nature of knowledge, among other factors. Therefore, the varied views of experts on what makes textbooks relevant in educational enterprise are not surprising. Owen in Nworgu (2001) postulated that the criteria for gauging the relevance of textbooks are accuracy, adequacy, validity, topical coverage and representations. Romey in Nworgu (2001) suggested such factors as students’ involvement, diagrams and figures, chapter summaries and activities. Wheelers in Nworgu (2001) recommended validity, significance, needs and interests of the learners, ‘learnability’ and challenge. Robert in Nworgu (2001) asserted that appropriateness and accuracy, topical coverage, presentation and assignment are the yardsticks for determining relevance of textbooks meant for teaching and learning. Nworgu (1988) stated that the parameters for determining relevance and usefulness of textbooks in educational setting are content and readability. The content variables according to the author are the topical coverage, learning activities, study questions, illustrations and chapter summaries. A close look at the views of the experts presented above on the criteria for determining the relevance or adequacy of textbooks for teaching and learning indicate that apart from the views of Romey  in Nworgu (2001) and Nworgu (1988) all other views are purely qualitative and subjective criteria or approach. Nworgu (2001) noted that Romey’s approach although a quantitative approach failed to include topical coverage which is an important parameter in evaluation of content of textbooks. Nworgu (2001) emphasized that the quantitative indices of Romey’s approach were defined only in terms of a difference with indeterminate limits. Nworgu noted that this makes the interpretations of the indices difficult except on a relativistic frame. These identified weaknesses and the fact that there is no available evidence in respect of validity and reliability of the approach seriously limits its usefulness. This study will therefore adopt content and readability parameters, which are quantitative and objective approach to evaluation of textbooks. The content will be determined using Quantitative Approach to Evaluation of Science Textbook (QACEST) while the readability will be determined using cloze procedure. QACEST and cloze procedure give objective results that are supported by empirical evidence.  Further justification for the present study’s focus on content and readability of textbooks is that content of a textbook is the total knowledge, skills and attitudes and values to be learnt in a subject (Olaitan, Onyemachi, Nwachukwu, Igbo, and Ekong 1999). This indicates that the three domains of learning (cognitive, affective and psychomotor) depend on the content of a textbook. This implies that adequate content of textbooks on agriculture for upper basic education (UBE) will address or provide for all the objectives of the UBE agriculture programme, which are at the three domains of learning. Furthermore, if the contents of such textbooks with adequate contents are well understood by the readers (readability of the textbooks are appropriate), the textbooks will help to actualize the objectives of the basic education agriculture programme. Therefore, textbooks on agriculture that help to actualize the objectives of UBE agriculture programme (textbooks that are adequate in content and readability) are judged to be good textbook for the programme.

The need to ensure that good textbooks are used by the students necessitated the Nigerian Council on Education mandating the state ministries of Education to embark on a 3-year periodic review of standard textbooks for teaching in secondary schools (Eya in Okafor 2008). Though the policy is on ground, it is not yet certain whether all the state ministries of education in Nigeria are implementing it very well. In Enugu state, the education resource centre, a unit of the state ministry of education is responsible for book review and recommendation for secondary schools. Uzo (2009) had noted that the Ministry of Education Enugu invites specialist teachers (subject teacher) from primary and secondary schools to study and recommend or not the textbooks submitted to the ministry by authors for use in schools. The author further added that the implication of this was that only the best books, which reflected contemporary changes in curriculum, were selected, recommended and approved. Thereafter, the school authorities (public and private) are directed to use only books in the booklist. The author finally warned that it is an offence to choose books outside the list. The textbook review exercise resulted in the six (6) course textbooks and two (2) supplementary textbooks on Agriculture used in 2009 – 2012 period (see Appendix A, p.128). The ministry used the same 2009 textbooks review, selection and recommendation approach in 2012, and recommended twenty-eight main textbooks and one (1) revision textbook on Agriculture for use in 2012- 2015 period (see Appendix B, P. 138) [Nine authors wrote three textbooks each for JSS I, II and III students’ class levels while Two authors wrote one textbook each, giving a total of twenty-nine textbooks] .

An important observation on the approach for textbook review, selection, recommendation and approval in Enugu is that students who are the end users are not part of the exercise. This implies that the readability of the textbooks is not tested on the students before recommendation. The presented approach is what Stephens (2012) described as the earliest form of readability test. The author stated that the earliest investigations of readability were merely conducted by asking librarians and teachers what seem to make textbook readable. Such approach for investigation into readability of text could be wrong as it may fail to capture the readability status of the textbook well especially for students.

The problem of evaluating textbooks for selection and use in public schools is not peculiar to Enugu state, or Nigeria alone, but also cuts across the globe. Nworgu and Harbour-Ibeaja in Okafor (2008), noted that the level of academic exposure of the approving committee and the procedures for approval of textbooks in Nigeria may bring obvious doubt on the content and readability status of some of the recommended textbooks. On a global scene, Muther (2012) reported the unfortunate approach to textbook evaluation and selection in most states in the United States of America. The author noted that textbook selection is unwisely done for two reasons. First, the use of out dated methods for textbook selection; and secondly, “the average teacher has never been trained to evaluate or select materials for classroom use” since most teacher training institutions hardly teach textbook evaluation courses, and when taught at all, are taught as part of material course at the post graduate level. The author finally reported that “publishers who provide the best wine and cheese, free consumable materials, or free samples copies of the books and accompanying give-away items, have many of their books selected”.

Inappropriate evaluation, selection and recommendation of textbooks as reported above have some implications on the students’ achievement in external examination. The first implication is that students who used textbook(s) that failed to cover the curriculum/syllabus for the preparation of the examination would meet unfamiliar questions in the examination, since the curriculum/syllabus guides the setting of the examination questions. The second implication is that if the inappropriateness of the textbook is due to poor readability, the students who used such book to prepare for an examination would not understand the content of the textbook, no matter the appropriateness of the content. In either case, the likely result is students’ poor achievement in the examination. A similar students’ poor achievements in examination was equally observed in a recognizance survey carried out to determine the level of

students’ achievements on Agriculture in the Enugu state upper basic education examinations (See Appendix C, p.141).The survey study showed that from the 180 randomly sampled schools in the state, the students’ results in the  upper basic education Agriculture examinations are: only 15.73% of the students scored credit or above credit grade in 2009,  in 2010 it was 14.41% and in 2011 it was 30.17% . Many factors could cause students’ poor achievement in the examinations. Adenipekun (2009) noted that factors such as textbooks, teachers, poor planning, poor monitoring and supervision and poor evaluation could equally be responsible for students’ poor achievement in examinations. Therefore, it is necessary that other factors be held constant while investigation is carried out on the textbooks in use.

It is against this background that the researcher deemed it necessary to evaluate the content and readability of the recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for the upper basic education students in the state.

Statement of Problem

Textbooks are crucial in the attainment of academic excellence by learners.  In recognition of the importance of textbooks for enhancing students’ knowledge in Nigeria, the National Council on Education mandated the State Ministries of Education to embark on a 3 – year periodic review of textbooks for teaching and learning in secondary schools.  In Enugu State, the Education Resource Centre (ERC), a unit of the Ministry of Education carries out review of textbooks to select and recommend them for use in schools.  The textbook review exercise resulted in the selection and recommendation of six course textbooks and two supplementary textbooks on Agriculture used between 2009 – 2012 periods (See Appendix A, P.128).  The students’ achievement on Agriculture in the Enugu state upper basic education examinations (Junior Secondary School Certificate Examinations) within the above stated period was not encouraging. Though the poor results could be caused by factors such as textbooks, teachers, poor planning, poor monitoring, poor supervision and poor evaluation, other factors were held constant while investigation is made on textbooks. The students’ poor results were indicated in their results on Agriculture from the 180 randomly selected upper basic education schools in the state, which were compiled from the Examination Development Centre, Enugu. The results showed that only 15.73% scored credit or above credit grade in 2009, 14.41% in 2010 and 30.17% in 2011(See Appendix C, p. 141).

In reviewing and recommending textbooks for upper basic education schools in Enugu State, the Ministry of Education invites specialist teachers (subject teachers) from secondary schools to study and recommend appropriate textbooks for teaching and learning Agriculture from the ones submitted by authors to the ministry. The students who are the end users of the books are not involved in any way in the selection and recommendation exercise. This implied that the readability of the textbooks is not tested on the students before the recommendation.  A reconnaissance survey carried out by the researcher on the officials of the Education Resource Centre, Enugu, to determine the criteria for and the conduct of textbook review exercise in the state using questionnaire as reported in Appendix Y, p. 261 indicated that:

• The subject specialist (subject teachers) and the ministry of education officials had no training on book review while they were in tertiary institutions as students.
• The ministry of education does not organize training on book review for the officials of the ministry and subject specialists (subject teachers) for the exercise.
• Students are not involved in the textbook review and recommendation. This confirmed the earlier indication that the readability of the textbooks is not tested on the students.
• Most variables (indicators) in content were not considered while reviewing the books. Specifically, the criteria for content evaluation focused on topical coverage and illustrations without emphasis on learning activities, chapter summaries and study questions.

The implications of the findings of the reconnaissance survey by the researcher are:

1. the procedure used by the Ministry of Education for book review and recommendations in Enugu State is questionable since the teachers and ministry officials do not have any training before the review exercise;
2. the readability (comprehensibility) of the Agriculture textbooks are not tested on the students who are the end users of the books in the review exercise; and
3. an objective approach such as QACEST: 5-point Model is not used to evaluate the topical coverage, learning activities, illustrations, chapter summaries and study questions of the textbooks as recommended by experts, but a subjective approach (opinion of the subject teachers/ ministry officials) which lacks empirical evidence.

Based on the above information the researcher deemed it necessary to evaluate the content and readability of the present (2012-2015) recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education students in the state.  This is important as there is no empirical evidence of evaluation of the readability and most content variables of the recommended textbooks.  The study will therefore address such gaps, especially with regards to obtaining empirical data on the variables of topical coverage, learning activities, illustrations, chapter summaries, study questions and readability of the books so recommended.

Purpose of the Study

                  The major purpose of the study was to evaluate the content and readability of the recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education students in Enugu State.  Specifically, the study intended to:

1. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSSI) in terms of topical coverage index.
2. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSSI) in terms of learning activities index.
3. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSSI) in terms of illustration index.
4. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSSI) in terms of chapter summaries index.
5. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSSI) in terms of study questions index.
6. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSSII) in terms of topical coverage index.
7. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSSII) in terms of learning activities index.
8. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSSII) in terms of illustration index.
9. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSSII) in terms of chapter summaries index.
10. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSSII) in terms of study questions index.
11. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in terms of topical coverage index.
12. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in terms of learning activities index.
13. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in terms of illustrations index.
14. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in terms of chapter summaries index.
15. Determine the adequacy of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in terms of study questions index.
16. Determine the readability of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State.
17. Determine the readability of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State.
18. Determine the readability of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education Ш (JSS III) in Enugu State.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be beneficial to authors and publishers of the agriculture textbooks, Education Resource Centre of the Ministry of Education in Enugu State, students of Agriculture, teachers of Agriculture, librarians, future researchers and it equally has some theoretical significance.

The findings of the study on the topical coverage, learning activities, use of illustrations, chapter summaries, study questions and readability will provide information that would be utilized by authors and publishers of the textbooks to improve the quality of their textbooks on Agriculture in subsequent editions.  Such improvement could bring about the filling up of the deficits found in the existing books.

The State Ministry of Education through the Education Resource Centre Enugu will equally benefit from the study.  The information obtained will enable them compare their own evaluation procedures and results with those of this study, and then be in a position to adopt the best evaluation procedure for reviewing and recommending textbooks in the future. That is, this study will provide the required procedure for reviewing and recommending textbooks in terms of content coverage and readability. The ministry will then provide these procedures to the reviewers as a reference material for their assignment.

The students of Agriculture at upper basic education levels will also benefit from the study.  The recommendation of the most readable textbook by the Education Resource Centre will enable them (students) buy the books they can easily understand.  This will boost their interest and achievement in Agriculture.

The teachers of Agriculture in upper basic education level will also benefit from the study.  The respective content evaluation results of the textbooks, and the recommendation of the most appropriate textbooks by the Education Resource Centre will enable the teachers assess the books that meet the demands of the new curriculum (upper basic education curriculum on Agriculture).  This will help them prepare adequate lessons for their classes and further help them in giving assignments to their students on what to read. This will further make their work easier as students will read ahead.

The state school library board, community library and the upper basic education school library will equally benefit from the study.  The data on the readability and content evaluation of the textbooks will enable the librarians to select the best books to stock in the libraries that are under their custody. The study may also serve as a reference for other researchers. It will be a pointer to other researchers on what have been done and how the study was carried out.

Finally, the study has some theoretical significance for the Use branch of the evaluation theory tree, and in particular for the Process component of Stuffbeam’ Context, Input, Process and Product (CIPP) evaluation model. That is, the data generated from the evaluated recommended textbooks would be used by the Enugu State ministry of education to make a decision on whether to uphold or discontinue the use of the present recommended textbooks in the state in the next textbook recommendation exercise. Also, the identified short comings in the present recommended textbooks would be used to improve upon those books which are to be continued being used for the implementation of the upper basic education (UBE) programme in the state, and such improvement when made on the books would end up improving the UBE Agriculture programme in the state.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1. What is the topical coverage index (TCI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
2. What is the learning activity index (LAI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
3. What is the illustration index (ILI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
4. What is the chapter summary index (CSI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
5. What is the study question index (SQI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
6. What is the topical coverage index (TCI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
7. What is the learning activity index (LAI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
8. What is the illustration index (ILI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
9. What is the chapter summary index (CSI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
10. What is the study question index (SQI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
11. What is the topical coverage index (TCI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?
12. What is the learning activity index (LAI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?
13. What is the illustration index (ILI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?
14. What is the chapter summary index (CSI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?
15. What is the study question index (SQI) score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?
16. What is the readability score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education I (JSS I) in Enugu State?
17. What is the readability score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education II (JSS II) in Enugu State?
18. What is the readability score of each of the nine recommended main textbooks on Agriculture for upper basic education III (JSS III) in Enugu State?

Scope of the Study

The study on the evaluation of content and readability was restricted to the twenty-seven available recommended main textbooks on Agriculture which are volumes for either of the upper basic education I, II or III students in Enugu State. (See Appendix F, p.156).  The study is delimited to determining the content adequacy and the readability status of the textbooks using the students. The study did not consider teacher factor in students’ readability test.

The twenty-seven textbooks on Agriculture were chosen for the evaluation of content and readability study on the basis that they are the recommended main textbooks (not revision books), and are volumes for either of the JSSI, II or III students; and were the most commonly available textbooks used for teaching Agriculture at the upper basic education level in the six education zones of Enugu State

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