On Jan. 22, the Fayette County

Board of Education was presented with recommendations for math textbooks.

New textbooks for elementary, middle, and high schools are expected to

be voted on during the February meeting of the Board of Education after

being tabled for 30 days for public comment.

The final approved texts will

be purchased and in Fayette classrooms when school begins in August for

the school year 2001­2002. Provided that the state stays on its current

cycle, these math textbook selections will be in our classrooms for the

next seven years.

Math textbook adoption committees,

one for the elementary grades and one for the middle and high school grades,

were composed of teachers, parents, and administrators representing every

school in the county.

The final recommendations for

the middle and high school texts are numerous, and reflect the vast array

of math courses available to Fayette students. Parents, as well as interested

citizens, are invited to stop by LaFayette Education center during the

next month to review all of the selections and offer public comment on

the recommended programs. Board members will have the final say in February

and will make their decision based on the committee recommendations, input

from educators, and community feedback.

The final recommendation for

our elementary students is McGraw Hill, which received 56 percent of the

overall vote. Other contenders included Everyday Learning Corp.'s "Everyday

Mathematics," receiving 22 percent of the overall vote; Harcourt

Brace, with 13 percent of the overall vote; Silver Burdett Ginn, with

9 percent of the overall vote.

Each school was given an opportunity

to vote. Parent and teacher votes were weighted equally. Each school then

tallied their school results to produce one overall school vote. Each

committee member vote was added to the 14 school votes to produce the

final result. We'll call this the electoral vote, since it's the one that

counts.

I happened to participate on

the elementary textbook committee, and spent a little extra time evaluating

the votes by schools.

There were 642 total individual

votes cast, 412 by teachers and 230 by parents. Of the individual votes,

McGraw Hill was still the favorite, receiving 38 percent of the individual

votes. Harcourt Brace received 23 percent, Silver Burdett Ginn 21 percent,

and Everyday Mathematics received 18 percent of the popular vote.

McGraw Hill won the overall

school vote at Brooks, Tyrone, Huddleston, Peachtree City, Burch and East

Fayette Elementary schools. Braelinn and Kedron chose Everyday Mathematics.

Silver Burdett Ginn got the nod from Spring Hill and Oak Grove, while

Fayette Primary and Fayette Intermediate (two schools in one) preferred

Harcourt Brace. Peeples and North Fayette produced ties for the overall

school choice. North Fayette give equal preference to McGraw Hill and

Harcourt Brace. Peeples was the most evenly distributed with equal votes

for Silver Burdett, McGraw Hill, and Everyday Mathematics.

Parents voted a little differently

from teachers. Among teachers throughout Fayette County, 31 percent listed

McGraw Hill as their first choice; 24 percent of teachers chose Harcourt

Brace; 23 percent preferred Silver Burdett Ginn; and 22 percent voted

for Everyday Mathematics. Teachers were pretty evenly distributed, but

McGraw Hill was nonetheless the winner.

Parents overwhelmingly supported

McGraw Hill with 50 percent of the popular vote. Harcourt Brace was a

distant second with 20 percent. Silver Burdett earned the support of 18

percent of parents, and Everyday Math came in last with 12 percent of

the parent vote.

The widest gap between parents

and teachers occurred at Kedron Elementary where 80 percent of teachers

voted for Everyday Mathematics, compared to only 17 percent of parents.

While 60 percent of parents selected McGraw Hill as their number one choice,

only 7 percent of teachers did.

All should be proud of their

hard work. This was an open process, and parents were not only included

in the process, they were welcomed with open arms. Schools posted signs

throughout their buildings, sent home mailers, and made the books available

for over a month for parents to come by at their convenience and vote.

The Board of Education, committee

members, teachers, administrators, and parents are to be commended for

the seriousness with which they approached this task, and for their willingness

to embrace our new program. While textbooks represent only part of the

overall picture in math instruction, they are probably the most scrutinized

part for parents.

Don't forget to come by the

LaFayette Education Center and take a look.

[Your comments are welcome

at: [email protected].]