The Palo Alto Board of Education said this week they will vote on whether to approve new Spanish 1 and 2 textbooks at their next meeting, May 26.
The board listened to a presentation by the special committee set up to test out new textbooks.
Although the school had not planned to purchase new foreign language textbooks until 2013, the committee and the board found it necessary to implement new textbooks due to the deteriorating conditions of the current ones.
“The materials we are currently using have served our program well,” Director of Secondary Education Burton Cohen said. “However, those materials have a copyright date of 1997 and are no longer in print.”
The board therefore created the special committee to find new textbooks. The committee has been carefully examining a variety of different books to determine which books would best serve Paly and Gunn’s foreign language programs. Along with Cohen, a variety of students, parents and teachers also serve on the committee.
The committee set up a list of criteria used to evaluate the new textbooks.
“We wanted to look at the implementation in terms of criteria sets,” Cohen said. “Some of the sets included whether the textbooks would be complete enough, and relevant to what foreign language teachers are doing.”
Other important criteria mentioned by Cohen included whether the books aligned with Calif. state standards, worked with the way the world language program operates, granted universal access for students, and provided students with the materials necessary to learn when teachers were not available.
Ultimately, the committee selected Descubrimiento by Vista Higher Learning after weeks of field testing. Although the book is not on the Calif. recommended list, the committee members noted that the list is old, and that a new list would not be available until 2011.
One of the most important aspects of the committee’s decision was the technological aspect of the books, according to Cohen.
“Technology was one of the deciding factors,” Cohen said. “The students we worked with really let us know how important technology was in their lives.”
Cohen added that student members of the committee encouraged the implementation of the textbook due to the growing role technology has in their lives.
“The students we worked with let us know that technological access and engagement are really what their life is about,” Cohen said. “It is what draws them into a program.”
The committee recommended that the books be purchased and implemented as soon as the fall of 2009.
The committee also noted that the textbooks would cost around $125,000. If approved, the books will be purchased with local funds rather than with state-supported funds.
The committee concluded by telling the board that they felt their textbook selection would be the best fit for the Palo Alto foreign language program.
“We picked these books knowing they will help as a resource,” Cohen said. “And that they will provide the foundation necessary to move on to levels 3 and above.”
The board will vote to approve the textbooks at its next meeting on Tuesday, May 26.
For more information on the meeting, click here.