As many of you may already

know, the Fayette County school system is in the process of reviewing

textbooks for the upcoming math textbook adoption cycle. It is expected

that the final selections will be presented to the board in late January.

Following the recommendation,

the textbooks will be displayed for 30 days at the Fayette County Board

of Education office for the general public to view and make comments.

The Board of Education will likely vote at the regular board meeting in

February, and preparations will be made to have the new math textbooks

in county schools by August 2001.

In accordance with the Georgia

Department of Education cycle for textbook review, whatever is selected

will be with us for the next seven years. With that in mind, elementary

parents have a unique and invaluable opportunity for the next month to

play a significant role in the adoption process.

I encourage you to go to your

child's school and look at the four choices for math textbooks currently

on display there. Following your observations, you will be allowed to

fill out an evaluation form and actually have a voice in your individual

school vote.

The four textbook choices currently

being considered have been narrowed from a field of 10. The four still

in the running are "Everyday Mathematics" (Everyday Learning

Corporation); "Math Advantage" (Harcourt Brace); "Math

In My World" (McGraw-Hill); and "Mathematics" (Silver Burdett

Ginn). "Everyday Mathematics" is the elementary math program

currently in use in the Fayette schools for grades one through five.

I will take a moment to disclose

to readers that, yes, I was the parent who led the charge three years

ago against the adopted math program "Everyday Mathematics,"

and my opinion has not changed. I don't tell you that to convince you

one way or the other. I tell you that because I would be remiss if I didn't.

What have I learned in the

past three years? Timing is everything. It is very difficult for all concerned

to discover that you may have problems with a program after it is already

in place. To be at ground zero during the selection process is an enormous

opportunity for parents and teachers alike.

I am not interested in swaying

your views for or against a particular program. I'm no more or less qualified

to consider textbooks than anyone else. In weighing public opinion over

two years ago, for every parent or teacher who didn't care for "Everyday

Mathematics," there was another parent or teacher who loved it. (It's

a little like our efforts to choose a president.)

What I do want to do is to

inspire you to get involved, look at each of the four programs, consider

your past experiences with our existing program (since it is still in

the running), consider what the other programs may have to offer, and

vote for your choice for our upcoming math textbook adoption.

There are a few websites that

may help you as you gather information and formulate your own opinions.

As you probably know, this country has been steeped in a philosophical

difference of opinion on the best way to teach children mathematics for

about the last 10 years. What has come to be known as the Math Wars is

still an open dispute, with no clear, decisive answers on the horizon.

The National Council of Teachers

of Mathematics (NCTM) is the authority for math educators and sets the

pace for math instruction in this country. Their standards, which represent

the benchmarks for state and county standards in all 50 states, can be

found at: https://www.nctm.org/.

The Georgia Department of Education

Quality Core Curriculum site can be accessed at https://www.doe.k12.ga.us/informationresources/qcc.html.

The Georgia Quality Core Curriculum offers a glimpse, grade by grade,

subject by subject, of what every student should know at the end of each

school year.

Another site, Mathematically

Correct, is rich source of background information on the current debate

on math education. This site can be found at https://www.mathematicallycorrect.com.

Within the MathematicallyCorrect

site are sites which contain reviews of various math textbooks. One site

contains a review of all four of our textbook contenders, written by the

same set of reviewers using the same set of reviewing criteria for each.

This is an excellent source for parents who would like to do a little

homework before they evaluate the books within the schools. The reviews

can be accessed at: https://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/books.htm. This

site is especially helpful in enabling parents to look at how a program

performs across grade levels.

Remember that textbooks are

a tool for teaching children. The curriculum outlines what should be taught

and when, and the choice of textbook should be the one that most closely

meets the requirements of the state and county curriculum for math.

Contact your local school to

find out where the books have been placed and when you can come in to

evaluate the programs. Each parent vote within a single school will be

considered along with the teacher votes to produce one overall vote for

that particular school. Each school vote will be added to the individual

votes which will be cast by members of the textbook adoption committee.

The last day for parent input is Jan. 17, 2001.

(Your comments are welcome: [email protected].)