Wednesday, January 24, 2001

Parents, teachers vote down 'Everyday Math,' except at 2 schools

By AMY RILEY
One Citizen's Perspective

On Jan. 22, the Fayette County Board of Education was presented with recommendations for math textbooks. New textbooks for elementary, middle, and high schools are expected to be voted on during the February meeting of the Board of Education after being tabled for 30 days for public comment.

The final approved texts will be purchased and in Fayette classrooms when school begins in August for the school year 2001­2002. Provided that the state stays on its current cycle, these math textbook selections will be in our classrooms for the next seven years.

Math textbook adoption committees, one for the elementary grades and one for the middle and high school grades, were composed of teachers, parents, and administrators representing every school in the county.

The final recommendations for the middle and high school texts are numerous, and reflect the vast array of math courses available to Fayette students. Parents, as well as interested citizens, are invited to stop by LaFayette Education center during the next month to review all of the selections and offer public comment on the recommended programs. Board members will have the final say in February and will make their decision based on the committee recommendations, input from educators, and community feedback.

The final recommendation for our elementary students is McGraw Hill, which received 56 percent of the overall vote. Other contenders included Everyday Learning Corp.'s "Everyday Mathematics," receiving 22 percent of the overall vote; Harcourt Brace, with 13 percent of the overall vote; Silver Burdett Ginn, with 9 percent of the overall vote.

Each school was given an opportunity to vote. Parent and teacher votes were weighted equally. Each school then tallied their school results to produce one overall school vote. Each committee member vote was added to the 14 school votes to produce the final result. We'll call this the electoral vote, since it's the one that counts.

I happened to participate on the elementary textbook committee, and spent a little extra time evaluating the votes by schools.

There were 642 total individual votes cast, 412 by teachers and 230 by parents. Of the individual votes, McGraw Hill was still the favorite, receiving 38 percent of the individual votes. Harcourt Brace received 23 percent, Silver Burdett Ginn 21 percent, and Everyday Mathematics received 18 percent of the popular vote.

McGraw Hill won the overall school vote at Brooks, Tyrone, Huddleston, Peachtree City, Burch and East Fayette Elementary schools. Braelinn and Kedron chose Everyday Mathematics. Silver Burdett Ginn got the nod from Spring Hill and Oak Grove, while Fayette Primary and Fayette Intermediate (two schools in one) preferred Harcourt Brace. Peeples and North Fayette produced ties for the overall school choice. North Fayette give equal preference to McGraw Hill and Harcourt Brace. Peeples was the most evenly distributed with equal votes for Silver Burdett, McGraw Hill, and Everyday Mathematics.

Parents voted a little differently from teachers. Among teachers throughout Fayette County, 31 percent listed McGraw Hill as their first choice; 24 percent of teachers chose Harcourt Brace; 23 percent preferred Silver Burdett Ginn; and 22 percent voted for Everyday Mathematics. Teachers were pretty evenly distributed, but McGraw Hill was nonetheless the winner.

Parents overwhelmingly supported McGraw Hill with 50 percent of the popular vote. Harcourt Brace was a distant second with 20 percent. Silver Burdett earned the support of 18 percent of parents, and Everyday Math came in last with 12 percent of the parent vote.

The widest gap between parents and teachers occurred at Kedron Elementary where 80 percent of teachers voted for Everyday Mathematics, compared to only 17 percent of parents. While 60 percent of parents selected McGraw Hill as their number one choice, only 7 percent of teachers did.

All should be proud of their hard work. This was an open process, and parents were not only included in the process, they were welcomed with open arms. Schools posted signs throughout their buildings, sent home mailers, and made the books available for over a month for parents to come by at their convenience and vote.

The Board of Education, committee members, teachers, administrators, and parents are to be commended for the seriousness with which they approached this task, and for their willingness to embrace our new program. While textbooks represent only part of the overall picture in math instruction, they are probably the most scrutinized part for parents.

Don't forget to come by the LaFayette Education Center and take a look.

[Your comments are welcome at: ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]

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