Prince William school board hears math textbook recommendations

The Prince William County School Board was presented with a list of math textbooks recommended for adoption during Wednesday’s meeting.

Timothy Healey, Kenneth Bassett and Carol Knight presented the School Board with a list of 10 textbooks recommended to be used in county schools at various levels.

Healey, Associate Superintendent for Student Learning and Accountability, said the textbook recommendation committee was composed of 105 teachers, parents of students, specialists and others from nearly 60 county schools.

“Although I’m not sure written records are kept on such things,” Healey added, “we believe we set a record with over 100 participants on our math textbook committee. No one can remember a larger number of participants for a textbook adoption.”

“It is important to note that every single parent who asked to be part of this process was on the committee,” Knight added.

The recommendation committee’s subcommittees met more than 150 times from August until January, said Knight, the school system’s Supervisor of Mathematics.

“Reviewing texts and judging them against the approved criteria is neither a quick nor easy task,” she added. “We are fortunate to have so many dedicated parents and teachers who care so much about children’s mathematics education.”

Knight said the committee chose texts that support the county’s preferred “blended approach” to teaching math.

All the considered texts were made available for public review at schools and local libraries for a 90-day period ending in December. Members of the public were requested to send comments about the books to the superintendent’s staff.

“The textbook committee received a total of 28 evaluation forms, notes or emails from a total of three parents and 15 teachers or grade level teams across the county,” Knight said. “For any citizen still interested, the texts will remain on display until the board has made a final decision.”

Last year, social studies texts that were part of the Five Ponds Press series became center of controversy in the county after factual inaccuracies they contained about the Civil War were discovered before they were added to the approved list for PWCS.

The School Board will not make a decision on the recommended math texts until its Feb. 15 meeting at the earliest.

Staff writer Joe Conroy can be reached at 703-530-3912.