A recommendation

for new math textbooks will be made to the Fayette County Board of Education

at its Jan. 22 meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m.

This proposal

comes after nearly a year of extensive study and review by a committee

composed of teachers, administrators, school board members, parents and

a representative from the community, plus a district office representative.

According to

Kay Seabolt, math coordinator for Fayette County schools, the committee

"looked at everything available" and went into the process with

no preconceived ideas and a "clean slate."

The local process

of selecting new textbooks for students in grades kindergarten through

12 coincides with the state Board of Education math textbook review that

occurs in seven-year cycles. The state committee chooses the textbooks

and programs it will fund, and in turn makes those selections known to

county school districts.

Last March,

Fayette County schools' math textbook adoption committee looked at the

elements of a good mathematics program and the components of good math

instruction. "The committee developed the Fayette County Philosophy

of Mathematics, which in turn guided the textbook selection process,"

Seabolt explained.

Two committees

were formed in August, one for elementary and one for middle school and

high school, to further the adoption process.

"We began

asked for input into what was wanted in a mathematics textbook. We then

went through a process for looking carefully at how specific skills were

developed through a grade level, and then from grade level to grade level.

Through this process, the textbooks were narrowed down and put out in

the schools for input from the teachers and the community," Seabolt

said.

At the elementary

level, measurement was selected as the subject area to be traced from

kindergarten through fifth grade. Pages were duplicated out of the books,

according to Seabolt, and reviewed. "We looked at which books did

the best job," she said. The same process was done for middle schools

with graphing.

The field was

narrowed from seven to four, which include publishers SBG Silver Burdett,

McGraw Hill, HBJ Harcourt Brace and Chicago Everyday Math for elementary

schools. These texts are now on display at area schools for review and

evaluation. High school text publishers include Glencoe, Holt, McDougal

and Prentice Hall.

Elementary

books are evaluated on appropriate problem solving skills, how the text

correlates with the quality core curriculum and county curriculum, the

adequacy of practice provided, real life applications, user-friendliness,

how assessments match objectives and what suggestions are provided for

remediation and enrichment. The higher level books are reviewed in similar

fashion.

Seabolt said

she and the committee are happy with the recommendations to be presented

to the board Monday night. The next step must include a public review

period and approval of funding.