CHECKING OUT YOUR CHILDREN'S TEXTBOOKS AND THE CURRICULUM:
September 8, 2005 – Viewing
Your Child’s Textbooks
When you as parents went to
school, probably the source for the curriculum in your classes was a textbook.
That still seems like a reasonable source to me, but things have changed.
One of the first things to
check after school starts each semester is your child’s textbooks. Ask your
child, K-12, to bring his books home, one at a time, for you to peruse. In
asking him to do this, you will discover whether or not he has his own texts and
whether he is allowed to bring them home.
The first surprising thing
that your child may say to you is “I didn’t get a book for that class.” Chances
are your child is telling you the truth.
There may be legitimate
reasons why he doesn't have a textbook. Perhaps the KISD administrator in charge
of ordering books failed to order the books in time or to order enough of them.
(Not ordering happened one year.) Perhaps the school is following the current
fad of eliminating the text in favor of something else.
Your child may be tuned in to a computer instead of a teacher. KISD spends millions
of dollars every year trying to keep the latest in technology on your child's desk--and
never mind that all technology is pretty much outdated in three or less years.
Trendy technology will soon replace that nice teacher of whom your child is so fond.
Not much you can do about it--especially if you rush to the polls every three years to
vote for the latest bond referendum!
For example, spelling books
were phased out many years ago, and instead, your child was asked to learn how
to spell from lists of words.
The
lists of words were eventually placed on the KISD web site.
You could even view the previous year’s spelling list words if you
wished.
After I wrote this column
the first time, spelling books came back. (Who says I’m not effective?)
Bringing them back is OK by me.
Students need spelling books.
I would have to look at one, however, to see if they’re the right kind of
spelling books.
If they still
include terms and phrases like “estimated spelling,” “visual markers,” and
“mature spelling,” or if there are no rules to go along with the words being
learned, or if they are not grouped logically, then I would have to say that the
“cover” may have changed, but the innards remain the same.
Let me refresh your memory
regarding your own spelling lessons.
First of all you probably had a book, so you could take it home and look at it,
and a parent could help you read through the directions and the explanations and
the words.
The words were usually
grouped by letter or the same sounding vowels or some other logical method of
tying certain words together, so that when you learned them there was something
to hang on to that made sense and was memorable.
Usually you had a pre-test after you had looked at the words, wrote
sentences using the words; maybe you even had a Spelling Bee using the words,
and then you took a spelling test on Friday.
No one ever came up with any
empirical evidence that this method of teaching spelling didn’t work. Everyone I
knew at my elementary school could spell unless they just didn’t have the mental
capacity.
Someone, probably an out
of work administrator, decided that what worked did not earn him any money, so
he made up, out of the blue, another method of learning
to spell.
He toured the offices of his employed administrator friends with a sales
pitch, and VOILA!
he made a sale to
one school district, and soon there were others that fell for the scam. The
spelling guru became rich, and children everywhere suffer because they’ve never
ever really learned how to spell.
Ever notice how many foreign
born students or home schooled students win the National Spelling Bee?
There’s a reason.
Their
parents are at home teaching them how to spell the old-fashioned way!
But back to my textbook
advice.
Look at each text that your
child DOES have.
Look at the people
who wrote it.
Google them to see
what else they do.
Look at the book.
Is it mostly pictures?
What
is the content of the pictures? Is it colorful?
Is it TOO colorful?
Did the
publisher spend more time making it pretty as opposed to putting good content in
it? Does the book exhibit any political bias--one way or the other? It
shouldn't. Find out if there are “ancillary” materials that go with the text.
Sometimes the stuff they don’t want parents to see is in those. Often the
ancillary materials include a workbook that stays at school, a handbook that
accompanies the text, videos and so forth.
You probably took all the same courses your child is taking so you are quite capable of judging his texts. Read the text. Does it make sense? Are there factual errors? Read the questions at the end of the chapter. Are they about the factual material within the text? They should be. Perhaps you will see some other kinds of questions that ask your child to do some activity, or interview some person, or do something else of which you may not approve. Are those questions more touchy feely than academic? The questions might also be directed toward you the parent. Sometimes the questions are very personal, and one wonders what it is the school is trying to find out about the child’s home life. The questions should be about the subject matter, and they should elicit from your child the knowledge that he acquired by reading the text. On the other hand if your child has no texts, you are pretty much left out in the dark unless you go to the school and ask to sit in on a few classes. Of course your being "out in the dark" is by design. The schools don't really want you to know what your children are being taught.
If you get REALLY interested
in what they are teaching your child, you can ask, through an open records
request, for a copy of the curriculum for that course--textbook or software.
They are obligated to give it to you.
In KISD, thanks to “alignment” both “vertically” and “horizontally,” and
KMAC lesson plans, (or whatever curriculum management system they are using this
year) every kid in town is supposed to be pretty much on the same
page at the same time doing the same thing.
HOW BORING!!!
A little effort on the part of parents might open a lot of eyes about what students are being asked to read or view and learn.
Maybe I will be wrong about your child‘s situation, and you will find
that he has accurate, well written texts taught
to him by a caring, articulate, and intelligent teacher.
I hope you do.
On the other hand, and as time passes, you might find that your child has no textbook in one class or all of his classes. That may become the norm. What is replacing the textbook? Is it a well-educated, academically schooled teacher who is very knowledgeable about the subject matter? That might be OK. Some teachers are so good they can walk into the classroom every day and simply teach the class--no lesson plans, no all night preparations, no computer system to guide the way. They just start teaching!
Or it might be a computer. That might not be OK. (I personally believe that a computer cannot take the place or even supplement a smart teacher, but then that’s just my opinion.) Or is it a hackneyed lesson plan from KMAC/CCAP that may or may not be suitable? You might even find some Common Core work sheets coming home. That would of course be against the law, as our Governor as well as the Attorney-General of Texas have outlawed the use of Common Core materials.
Is the school sending home a
text to remain at home so your child doesn’t have to carry a book for that class
back and forth?
Ever stop to think
what that practice costs the taxpayers?
You should.
Ask your child if he
actually uses the text.
Ask about
how the teacher teaches. Does she ever get out of
her chair? Does he monitor tests so no one cheats. Does she actually teach or does
she prepare notes for students to copy? You might even
want to visit the school (ask permission and make an appointment) to see for
yourself.
It’s not hard to see
what’s happening in a classroom, even if they’re ready for you when you come to
visit.
I remember as a school board
member, I sometimes asked to visit this or that classroom.
They always knew I was coming, and yet…
I once visited a second grade math teacher at a Katy elementary school. Of course they always sent an administrator with me, so I didn’t abuse the privilege very often as I didn’t want to waste their time, but on this day, the Assistant Superintendent was with me. We sat in the back of this particular classroom, and the teacher was teaching addition using pennies for “manipulatives.” The funny thing was, she couldn’t spell penny! The word was written as “penney” all over the chalkboard. I couldn't get past that to appreciate her mathematical acumen.
Another time, as board
members, Larry Moore and I visited Katy High School.
The principal was with us, and he opened the door to go into the
classroom. Although it was a small class,
all the students were sitting on the desk tops eating snacks and drinking cokes
and watching an “R” rated video movie.
We just sort of backed out the door.
The principal was embarrassed, and neither Larry nor I could think of a
thing to say.
What CAN you say?
Unfortunately, I’m sure that sort of thing goes on way too much in our
schools, and it isn't really funny at all.