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District staff recommend new world-language instructional materials; board to consider approvals tonight
Summary
District curriculum staff recommended publisher-selected materials for Spanish, French, German, ASL and Japanese after committee review; the School Board will consider the contracts tonight, triggering a 30-day objection period before purchases and classroom rollout in August.
Desiree Rabinsky, Volusia County Schools' coordinator for instructional materials and media services, told the board at a workshop April 14 that a district committee followed Policy 321 and Florida statutes to review and recommend new world-language instructional materials.
Rabinsky said the adoption process began with a January call for publishers, committee selection in February, and school- and public-review in March. The review used the Florida Department of Education core-questions rubric; the committee included 18 teachers, two parents and one public-input response, she said. "All of the materials were reviewed by the committee using the Florida Department of Education core questions rubric," Rabinsky said.
On the committee's recommendations, Rabinsky summarized language-by-language choices: Spanish 1–3 were narrowed to Linco Language Labs (with AP Spanish recommended from Vista Higher Learning); French 1–3 and AP French were recommended from Wayside Publishing; German 1–3 and AP German from Vista Higher Learning; American Sign Language from ASLtoFind; and Japanese materials from Cheng & Tsui. Rabinsky noted that the state did not issue a statewide call for Japanese materials, so the district performed a local call and review for that language.
Board members asked how the district will estimate student usage and where courses will be offered. Rabinsky and Dr. Ullman (multilingual department) said schools are scheduling for next school year and the district will compile estimated student counts before May ordering. They also noted that some programs, such as German and Japanese, are relatively small and teacher availability can limit offerings; if a program lacks a teacher, the district would not purchase materials for that site.
Rabinsky outlined next steps: the recommended publisher agreements will be action items on the evening board meeting; following any approvals there is a 30-day objection period required by statute before purchases proceed. If no sustained objections arise, the district plans to requisition and deliver materials to schools in late May or early June and begin implementation in August with professional learning at Volusia Learns, pre-planning training and PLC supports during the school year. She said materials purchases are planned as five-year adoptions and that the curriculum team will update maps and provide teacher training to support rollout.
The board did not take formal votes during the workshop; members expressed general support for the committee process and urged the district to press the state to consider a broader call for Japanese materials. If the board approves the recommendations tonight, purchases and teacher training would proceed according to the timeline Rabinsky described.
