The State Board of Education, on September 9, 2002, adopted new textbooks, other instructional materials and learning technologies for grades K-12 in curriculum areas of Arkansas history, visual and performing arts, music, business and marketing, career education, general cooperative education, workplace readiness, and English as a second language. One copy of listing of these materials will be delivered to each district in the next bulk mailing. The state-adopted lists will also be accessible via the Internet. They can be located by going to the Department web page http://arkedu.state.ar.us/administraors/. In the Options Below box, scroll down to Instructional Materials .
State contracts for these materials will be effective July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2009. Classroom implementation will be for school year 2003-2004.
The instructional materials adopted by the Board were extensively reviewed and evaluated and favorably recommended by state selecting committees of subject area teachers and administrators. The State Selecting Committees’ main criteria for reviewing the materials were how well the materials correlated with the state curriculum frameworks.
Local selecting committees should now be appointed. The composition of the committees should be of certified personnel, the majority being subject or grade level teachers in the aforementioned areas. Local committees will be guided by the district’s curriculum development in choosing textbooks and other materials that best meet the school's curriculum needs.
The lists of state-adopted materials received by the districts should be incorporated into the Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials, Grades K-8 and 9-12 binders being kept by each district. Additional copies of the lists may be made or secured from the web page to update the binders at each building level. It is important that all personnel have access to the state-adopted lists. The listings now in these binders for the newly adopted curriculum areas are current until June 30, 2003, when the present state contracts for these areas 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, the materials 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 a 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. These forms will also be available on the web. Adoption reports are to be sent in as soon as selections are made. Timely reporting of adoptions will provide the necessary lead time for stocking the textbook depository. This will assist the depository to avoid backorders and delays in shipping your textbook orders for 2003-2004 school year. The deadline for receiving K-8 adoptions is February 1, 2003. The deadline for receiving grades 9-12 adoptions is April 15, 2003.
The Department of Education no longer sponsors a textbook caravan. Textbook sales representatives conduct the caravan. The sales representatives determine all decisions such as time, place and locations for the caravan. There are no assurances from ADE as to the amount of in-service versus sales that the caravan may provide. ADE sends out a caravan schedule as a courtesy only. Caravan attendees should verify that materials presented are on the state-adopted lists.
Offering complimentary materials as an incentive to secure adoptions is a popular marketing strategy with publishers. Although adoption decisions by administrators and teachers are not made on the basis of complimentary materials, it is important that all schools, regardless of size or location receive the same benefits when adopting and purchasing the same programs. Therefore, publishers who participate in state adoptions are required to submit upfront, with their bid and contract a list of complimentary materials or services they will provide upon adoption and purchase of their programs. Pursuant to condition of contract, the complimentary materials list submitted with the official bid is final. It may not be altered and must be adhered to precisely during the contract period. No alterations may be made to school districts, individual schools or individuals. A deviation from these stipulations by any publisher’s representative or agent can result in severe penalties for the publisher. Any additional offers should be discouraged, never solicited and, if additional offers are made, they should be reported. Copies of the official complimentary lists may be obtained for review by contacting the Academic Standards and Assessment Unit at (501)682-4593.
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The State-Adopted List will be mailed in the next bulk mailing.