A special textbook committee is making recommendations to the Putnam County School Board to adopt new science textbooks for grades 3-12.
Curriculum Supervisor Bubba Winningham said the committee is on a six-year adoption cycle to update textbooks for different subjects. Winningham said when looking at adopting new textbooks, the committee sends out a curriculum needs assessment to teachers.
“Based on that we kind of focus in on okay here are some things like high teacher support is one of the things, students engaged in authentic learning, comprehensive assessments, those are some things that our teachers are like ‘If we are picking a new curriculum, I want it to have these things,'” Winningham said.
Winningham said many parents are often concerned about what curriculum the new textbooks will contain. Winningham said there are no concerns as the proposed textbooks meet state standards.
“The state gives us a list of approved curriculums and then we basically have to go off that list,” Winningham said. “So you know we are kind of following state guidance here with what we are picking.”
Winningham said the textbooks the committee is recommending are vastly different from what the school system has now.
“They are designed to meet college and career-ready standards and support our teachers in delivering that consistent standards-aligned instruction,” Winningham said. “So that’s really the big shift for HQIM(High-Quality Instructional Materials) and so that’s what we want. We want vendors who provide those materials for our teachers and students, and so we want to provide that access to rigorous learning opportunities every single day.”
Winningham said the school board has approved the textbook recommendation for grades 3-8 and the committee has narrowed down to two options for high school textbooks.
Winningham said the school has not provided a budget of what they are willing to spend on new textbooks but the committee is looking to be in the ballpark of what the board spent last year for new math textbooks which was an estimated $1.8 million.
