Board approves 30-day public display for new middle-school math and science textbooks
Loading...
Summary
Following a pilot year, district staff recommended McGraw Hill math materials and TCI science materials for sixth through eighth grades; the board approved placing the textbooks on public display and will vote on final adoption at the next meeting.
District curriculum staff presented recommendations to place proposed middle-school math and science textbooks on 30-day public display as the next step toward adoption.
For math, staff recommended a McGraw Hill program for middle school Course 1'3 (equivalent to sixth, seventh and eighth grades), citing deeper problem-solving tasks and guided practice that staff said better support diverse learners. "They did like the deeper knowledge and learning, specifically the challenging word problems that really mirrored what was supposed to happen," a curriculum presenter said.
For science, staff recommended TCI materials aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and noted the materials break grade-level content into focused topic books (for example, space, Earth and weather for sixth grade). The presenter said the science adoption supports more hands-on lab activities and that consumable lab costs would be purchased annually rather than pre-purchased for six years.
Textbook licensing and costs: presenters explained that digital seat licenses are purchased per student and gave an example that 387 seat licenses were estimated for a sixth-grade cohort; the package price discussed covered a multi-year license term and professional development was included in the proposal. Staff said the district would not buy hardcover copies district-wide at an additional cost of about $70,000 and instead would provide digital access with the ability to print specific pages or teacher-selected packets.
Action taken: the board approved making the textbooks available for a 30-day public review; final adoption votes are scheduled for the October board meeting.
Discussion versus decision: the board's voice vote authorized public display (direction to staff to place materials on public view). The final adoption vote will occur after the public display period and a subsequent board vote.
Next steps: textbooks will be available for public inspection during the display period; staff will return in October with the formal adoption recommendation and a roll-call vote will be taken at that meeting.
