Bedford schools approve new K–12 math textbooks; committee cited Virginia alignment

The Bedford County School Board voted April 10 to adopt two new math textbook programs: Kiddom Virginia Math for kindergarten through grade 5 and Mathspace Virginia for grades 6 through Algebra II.

Board members voted to approve the adoption after a presentation from Dr. Sean Prosper and Audrey Bowyer, who led the division’s textbook committee. The committee convened in November 2024, reviewed vendor presentations and sample materials, and extended community and teacher review periods in February and March before making its recommendation.

The committee emphasized alignment to the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) as the top criterion. Officials presented an alignment analysis produced by the consortium (CIP) using Virginia Department of Education documents; that report showed Kiddom and Mathspace demonstrating the strongest alignment across the approved list of textbooks. Committee members noted Kiddom’s sequence of print and digital resources and Mathspace’s full alignment from grade 6 through Algebra II as deciding factors.

Audrey Bowyer told the board teachers ranked “clear alignment to our Virginia SOLs” and “ease of use” among the top five features they wanted. Committee members said they received about 118 teacher responses (roughly 57% of math teachers) after extending the review window; parent and community responses were limited.

The presentation also outlined implementation expectations: the adopted resources will be the primary Tier 1 instructional materials, with teachers able to use supplemental resources only after fully using the core materials. The division plans principal-led inventories of manipulatives, summer training and earlier digital access (potentially as early as June 1) so teachers can review materials before school begins.

Board discussion addressed practical concerns including storage for K–5 consumable materials, kindergarten printing strategies (the division plans to supply digital resources and a teacher consumable for kindergarten rather than student consumables), and the need to create a process for teachers to submit vetted supplemental practice items. Presenters said some gaps identified in grade-level alignment (most noticeably in Grade 4) will be filled by locally written supplemental lessons developed over the summer.

After discussion, a motion to approve the math textbook adoption was made and seconded. The motion passed; the board chair announced the adoption was approved.

The division estimated the math adoption cost will draw down the textbook fund reserve (an earlier estimate for the adoption was approximately $1.4 million), and district staff said they are negotiating quotes to remove items already available in schools (for example, manipulatives) to manage cost.

The board and staff said further details on ordering, printing schedules and training will follow once vendors finalize production timelines.