The State Board of Education on September 8, 2003, adopted new textbooks, other instructional materials, and learning technologies for grades K-12 in curriculum areas of health and physical education, special education, agriculture, family and consumer science and technical and professional preparation. One copy of each of the state-adopted lists will be delivered to the school 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/administrators/. In the options box, scroll down to Instructional Materials.
State contracts for these materials will be effective July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2010. Classroom implementation will be for school year 2004-2005.
The instructional materials adopted by the Board were extensively reviewed and evaluated and recommended by state selecting committees. The committees were composed of grade/subject area teachers and administrators from across the state in the aforementioned curriculum areas. The main criterion for review was correlation of the materials to the state curriculum frameworks.
The adoption process now moves from state to local district. Local selecting committees of certified personnel and a majority of classroom teachers should now be appointed. Local committees will be guided by the local district’s curriculum development to select textbooks and other materials that best meet the local district’s curriculum needs.
The lists of state-adopted materials received by each school or school district should be incorporated into the Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials, Grades K-8 and 9-12 binders maintained at 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 lists now in the binders for the newly adopted curriculum areas are current until June 30,2004, when the present state contracts for specific areas expire. The new lists are useful, at this time, as working copies during the adoption process.
Examination copies (samples) of the state-adopted materials will begin arriving at local schools. The samples received during the adoption process are on loan to the school systems. After adoptions are made, the samples must be returned to Educator’s Book Depository, 6700 Sloane Drive, Little Rock, AR 72206. School systems may keep the samples of the textbooks or other materials adopted and purchased. Exercise the following options when returning all others:
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. Be sure to label all boxes “Textbook Samples.”
There should be no charges to districts for returning samples, providing the above options are followed. Any charges inadvertently paid by districts may be recovered from publishers through the depository.
Forms for reporting adoptions will be included with the state adopted lists in the next bulk mailing. The forms will also be available on the web. Adoption reports are to be filed with the Academic Standards and Assessment Unit as soon as selections are made. Timely reporting of adoptions will provide the necessary lead-time for stocking the textbook depository and will help the depository to avoid backorders and delays in shipping textbook orders for the 2004-2005 school year. Filing the Report of Adoption is important. The Depository will fill orders first from districts with reports of adoption on file.
Deadlines for receiving Reports of Adoptions are January 15, 2004, for grades K-8 and April 1, 2004, for grades 9-12. Districts with middle school configurations may choose the reporting schedule that best meets the school's needs in securing vertical articulation with local district curriculum development.
The Arkansas Department of Education no longer sponsors a textbook caravan. Local sales people of publishing companies conduct caravans. The sales people make 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 have a copy of the state recommended list and 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 materials. Everyone participating in state adoptions must submit with the bid and contract a list of complimentary materials or services provided upon adoption and purchase of the specified 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 for any district, individual school or individual. A deviation from these stipulations by any publisher’s representative or agent can result in severe penalties for the publisher. Any additional offers must be discouraged, never solicited and, if additional offers are made, the offers should be reported. Monitoring is important, because though complimentary materials may seem free, the cost to publishers in providing them may be a factor in the escalating cost of textbooks. Copies of the official complimentary lists may be obtained for review by contacting the Academic Standards and Assessment Unit at (501) 682-4593.
The state adopted list and Adoptions Reporting Forms will be delivered in the next bulk mailing.