The State Board of Education, on September 11, 2000, adopted new science textbooks and other instructional materials for grades K-12. One copy of lists of these materials will be delivered to you in the next bulk mailing. The state-adopted lists will also be accessible via the Internet. They can be found on the Arkansas Web Page under Academic Standards and Assessment and then under State-Adopted Instructional Materials.
State contracts for these materials will be effective July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2007. Classroom implementation will be for school year 2001-2002.
State committees of subject area teachers and administrators favorably reviewed the instructional materials adopted by the Board. The State Selecting Committees' main criteria while reviewing the materials, were how well the materials correlated with the state curriculum frameworks.
Local selecting committees should now be appointed, composed of certified personnel including subject or grade level teachers of science. Local committees will be guided by their local district's curriculum development, choosing textbooks and other materials that best meet their district's curriculum needs.
The lists of state-adopted materials you receive should be incorporated into a total listing of Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials (the old red and gray binders or other binders now being used). Other copies may be made or secured from the Web Page to update the binder at each building level. It is important that all personnel have access to the state-adopted list. The science listings now in the binders at your schools are current until June 30, 2001, when the present state contracts for science expire. The new lists are useful, at this time, as working copies during the adoption process.
Examination copies of the state-adopted materials received during the selection process are on loan to the school systems. After adoptions are made, they must be returned to Educator's Textbook Depository,
6700 Sloane Drive, Little Rock, AR 72206. School systems may keep the samples of the textbooks or other materials they adopt and purchase. Please exercise one of the following options when returning the samples:
For shipments weighing 100 pounds or less, send parcel post "fourth class." Package no more than 50 pounds per carton. Do not send C.O.D.
Ship "freight collect" (trucking-motor freight company), if a depository shipment weighs more than 100 pounds. There is minimum charge of $20.00 when returning by freight. Be sure to label all boxes "Textbook Samples."
Forms for reporting adoptions will be included with the state adopted lists in the next bulk mailing. We will appreciate receiving the adoption reports as soon as selections are made. Timely reporting of adoptions will provide the necessary lead time for stocking the textbook depository. It will help to avoid backorders and delays in shipping as you place your textbook orders for 2001-2002 school year. The deadline for receiving K-8 adoptions is February 1, 2001. The deadline for receiving grades 9-12 adoptions is April 15, 2001.
Attachments to this memo will be mailed in the next bulk mail.