October 9, 2006, the State Board of Education adopted new textbooks, other instructional materials, and learning technologies for grades K-12, for curriculum areas of science, health/physical education and medical professions. The new state adopted lists will be accessible via the Internet. The lists can be located by going to the Arkansas Department of Education web page http://arkansased.org/teachers/instructional_material.html
State contracts for these materials will be effective July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2013. Classroom implementation will be for school year 2007-2008.
The instructional materials on the lists were extensively reviewed, evaluated and recommended by state selecting committees. The committees were composed of grade/subject area teachers and administrators in the aforementioned curriculum areas from across the state. 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 should now be formed consisting of certified personnel with a majority of classroom teachers. Local committees will be guided by the local district's curriculum development in selecting textbooks and other materials that best meet the local district's curriculum needs.
The present state-adopted lists for the newly adopted curriculum areas remain current until June 30, 2007, when the present state contracts 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, Arkansas 72206. School systems may keep the samples of the textbooks or other materials adopted and purchased. Please 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.
If a depository shipment weighs over 100 pounds, ship “Freight Collect' (trucking- motor freight company): Be sure to label all boxes “Official 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 textbook depository.
Forms for reporting adoptions are available at the instructional materials web site address previously given in this communication -. Timely reporting of adoptions will provide the necessary lead-time for stocking the textbook depository and will help the depository to avoid delays and backorders in shipping textbook orders for the 2007-2008 school year. Districts that have reports of adoptions on file will have orders filled first.
Deadlines for receiving Reports of Adoptions are February 15, 2007, for grades K-8 and April 15, 2007, 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.
Please fax or mail adoption reports to:
Sue McKenzie
Curriculum, Assessment & Research
Textbooks/Instructional Materials
#4 State Capitol Mall – Room 104A
Little Rock, AR 72201
FAX – 501-682-4886