Separation of Church and State Curricula? Public Standards, Private Values, and Textbook Content

Anjali Adukia and Emileigh Harrison

No 33791, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Curricula are a critical site of cultural transmission, yet we know little about the values conveyed in textbooks across educational settings or the forces that shape them. We examine textbooks from Texas and California public schools and religious-private and home schools spanning 1980-2022, using computational and AI tools to measure presence and portrayal of people, topics, and values over time. Despite narratives of political polarization, Texas and California textbooks show substantial similarity. In contrast, religious private-school textbooks place greater emphasis on religious and character values and depict characters with lighter skin colors; we show these differences align with preferences and demographics of target markets. To explain public-school convergence, we develop a framework in which publishers serve a national market constrained by state standards and provide evidence consistent with cross-state spillovers in textbook content following standards revisions. Conversely, private-school publishers serve a more segmented, less regulated market, leading to greater differentiation.

JEL-codes: I0 I20 I21 I28 I29 J0 J10 J15 J16 J18 J19 Z10 Z11 Z12 Z13 Z18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul, nep-mac and nep-ure
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