Date: January 22, 2008
Dear Publishers of Mathematics Instructional Materials for Kindergarten Through Grade Eight:
2007 MATHEMATICS PRIMARY ADOPTION:
POST-ADOPTION BRIEFING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
(PUBLISHER BULLETIN 2007-24)
The California Department of Education (CDE) conducted a Publishers Post-Adoption briefing on Friday, December 7, 2007. Topics covered at the briefing included
post-adoption timelines, California Education Code (EC) and California Code of Regulations, Title 5, requirements regarding sales and marketing, the piloting policy of the State Board of Education (SBE), alternate formats, pricing, and more.
Several questions were collected during the briefing. This document includes responses to those questions.
1. Algebra Readiness is a new course and covers different mathematics standards than grade seven or Algebra I. Can you give an update on whether and when a California Standards Test (CST) specific to Algebra Readiness is expected to be available?
Answer: The SBE is working with the CDE State Testing and Reporting (STAR) Office to explore issues related to the development of a CST for students enrolled in an Algebra Readiness program. For additional information, you may contact the STAR Office at 916-225-8765.
2. Can publishers contact individual schools regarding piloting a program prior to contacting the school district?
Answer: Guidelines for contact between district and/or school personnel and publishers is a local decision. The SBE Policy “Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials” is available on the CDE Web site at Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials (PDF; 53KB; 4pp.) This document includes the following recommendations to districts about contact with publishers:
- Establish the district contact for the publishers.
- Set firm ground rules with the publishers and teachers.
- Limit the amount of materials that can be distributed and to whom.
- Establish firm guidelines regarding contact between publishers and district personnel at the outset of the piloting process and monitor during the process. To assist in setting guidelines it is advisable to review the EC sections dealing with Instructional Materials (grades kindergarten through grade twelve, sections 60060-60062, 60450-60453; grades kindergarten through grade eight, sections 60200-60206; grades nine through twelve, sections 60400-60411).
3. a. What is the typical process and time frame for adoption at the Learning Resource Display Center (LRDC) level, district level and school level?
Answer: All LRDCs contain samples of instructional resources in text format, and many of them also display technology-based resources. Persons responsible for evaluating instructional resources at the local level are encouraged to visit the local LRDC to review adopted instructional resources for the purpose of identifying those resources that best meet the needs of the LEAs or school’s students. Some LRDCs also help organize publisher fairs in their regions. A current address list for the LRDCs is on the CDE Web site at Learning Resource Display Centers .
Local educational agencies (LEAs [school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education]) have the authority and the responsibility to conduct their own evaluation of instructional materials and to adopt the materials that best meet the needs of their students. Some LEAs conduct adoptions on an agency-wide basis; others delegate authority to individual school sites to select their own materials.
For the 2007 Mathematics Adoption, typically an LEA will plan to pilot new programs during spring or fall 2008 and will plan to have materials in the classroom no later than the start of school in fall 2009.
3. b. What is the most efficient way to contact a district/school or learn about a district/school adoption process?
Answer: Please refer to the answer provided in Question 3. The searchable California School Directory, which includes names and addresses of districts and schools in California, is available on the CDE Web site at California School Directory . The directory includes contact information for school
principals and district superintendents in California. You may want to start by contacting a district’s Superintendent or Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction or Curriculum Director.
4. Does a publisher need to have a warehouse here in California?
Answer: No. A publisher is not required to maintain a warehouse in California; it is adequate to have a local California contact (representative). As stated in the 2007 Mathematics Primary Adoption Invitation to Submit (ITS) document (pages 40-41),
“Publishers shall comply with all applicable statutes and regulations, including, but not limited to, Education Code Section 60061,... 6. Maintain a representative, office, or depository in the State of California or arrange with an independently owned and operated depository in the State of California to receive and fill orders for instructional materials.”
5. If a publisher plans to publish tests from a blackline master book as individual student packets (same content, alternate format), is the publisher required to assign ISBN numbers to the student packets?
Answer: Yes. The student packets should be assigned an ISBN number and submitted as an alternate format. For information regarding alternate format, refer to the ITS document (pages 44-45).
6. If a publisher has an inventory of the original books (pre-edits and corrections), can those books still be sold to districts not using Instructional Materials Funding Realignment Program (IMFRP) funds? Alternately, can they be shipped as samples for review?
Answer: No. Selling the “pre-edit and correction” version of books or shipping these books to districts as “review samples” would be very confusing for districts. These are not the adopted materials.
7. In middle or elementary schools, students may be taking core mathematics plus Intervention, as needed. If Intervention is offered as a class, are students excused from the core for that period?
Answer: Intervention programs can be the core program. How districts implement an Intervention program is considered a local decision. The “Criteria for Evaluating Mathematics Instructional Materials” states, “Districts will decide, on the basis of individual assessment data, whether each student uses one or a combination of basic grade-level, intervention, or algebra readiness materials.” (Refer to the ITS document, Attachment A, page 54).
8. If an Intervention program is offered as a second class of mathematics (in addition to the grade-level mathematics class), is the second (Intervention) class subject to the sufficiency requirements of the Williams Settlement?
Answer: No. If a student is assigned to the grade-level mathematics class and also the Intervention class, then the sufficiency requirement would only apply to the grade-level class. As part of the Williams Settlement, EC Section 60119(c)(1) states that sufficient textbooks or instructional materials means, "each pupil, including English Learners, has a standards-aligned textbook or instructional materials, or both, to use in class and to take home."
However, districts have the flexibility to use the Intervention programs in a variety of instructional settings to best meet the needs of their students in grades four through seven who are at risk of not meeting grade level standards (e.g., for supplemental instruction for students in the core program or as the core program). If the Intervention program is the only mathematics class a student is enrolled in, then the EC Section 60119(c)(1) sufficiency requirement would apply to that student.
9. If a free pilot is offered to one district, must it also be provided to any other district that asks for it (according to the “Most Favored Nations” clause)?
Answer: No. The decision to offer free materials to pilot is at the discretion of the publisher and LEAs are cautioned not to use piloting as a way to get free materials. The SBE Policy “Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials” is available on the CDE Web site at Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials . (PDF; 53KB; 4pp.) This document includes the following recommendations to districts regarding the selection of programs to pilot:
- Keep the offerings of each publisher consistent with the other publishers, so that a bias will not be established toward a publisher who is more “generous.”
- Caution teachers and publishers regarding the acceptance or offering of gifts, gratuities, meals, etc. Pilot evaluations need to be based on the merits of the program and its effectiveness with student learning. It is suggested that EC sections 60070-60076, be reviewed as these sections specify the prohibitions between publishers and school officials.
10. Are publishers required to remove pilot materials?
Answer: The SBE Policy “Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials” is available on the CDE Web site at Guidelines for Piloting Textbooks and Instructional Materials. (PDF; 53KB; 4pp.) This document includes a suggested chronology of the pilot process, which states, “Establish a system for removing non-consumable materials when the pilot is completed. Keep teachers, publishers, and site administrators informed of timelines and procedures.” Publishers should work directly with districts on these arrangements.
11. If technology-based Algebra Readiness programs are required to meet the sufficiency requirements of the Williams Settlement does this mean that every student must be supplied a computer for use at home? If yes, this effectively eliminates technology-only products as state adopted curriculum materials.
Answer: Algebra Readiness programs are designed to offer a full year of instruction and could be used by a district as the core materials for some students. If this is the situation, and the program is completely Web-based or electronic textbooks, Williams requires that all students have access to the materials both at school and at home. This presumes those students who have Web-based materials have access to computers and the Internet in school and at home and those students who have electronic textbooks have access to computers in school and at home.
12. Is it possible to get an extension on delivering materials to the Clearinghouse for Media and Translations (CSMT)? If so, what is the process for this?
Answer: Yes. This date may be extended by submitting a request in writing, before the deadline, to the following address (include a cc to Jonn Paris-Salb, Administrator, CSMT):
Thomas Adams, Director
2007 Mathematics Adoption: CSMT Extension
Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division
California Department of Education
1430 N Street, Suite 3207
Sacramento, CA 95814
Please include the reason for the extension and the date your final printed resources will be submitted.
13. What is “Closed Adoption” for a district?
Answer: This means the local adoption is limited to certain programs.
14. What level of contact from publishers is permitted in each district (i.e., “Code of Silence” vs. welcomed sales calls?)
Answer: Guidelines for contact between district and/or school personnel and publishers is a local decision. Please check with the district. Also refer to the answer in Question 2.
15. Is it permissible for a publisher provides their entire Algebra Readiness program at no additional price, if the district purchases their entire K-6 Basic programs? Would the “Most Favored Nations” clause require that the Algebra Readiness program be offered free even if K-6 Basic program is not also purchased?
Answer: Yes. A publisher may offer their Algebra Readiness program at no additional cost, if the same offer is available to all other schools, districts, or county offices in California. However, this DOES NOT mean the publisher must offer their Algebra Readiness program free, if the Basic program is NOT purchased.
16. Can someone not directly involved in a district’s textbook adoption be taken to lunch by a publisher?
Answer: Publishers should consult their attorney and district staff is advised to follow local district rules regarding conflict of interest. EC sections 60071–60073 prohibit publishers from offering local school officials any emolument, money, or valuable things as inducement for school officials directly or indirectly to influence the adoption or purchase of any instructional materials (refer to the ITS document page 37).
17. Prior to CDE approval, can publishers print pricing information that includes bundling of gratis items and label it “Pending CDE” approval?
Answer: No. Publishers should wait for approval from CDE before providing pricing information. The ITS document (pages 45-46) provides additional information on the approval of alternate formats.
18. Do publishers need to have pricing information on their company Web site? If yes, by what date?
Answer: No. However CDE maintains the “Price Lists of Adopted Instructional Materials” on the CDE Web site at Price Lists of Adopted Instructional Materials.
19. Can alternate formats be different in price?
Answer: Prices should be comparable to the price of the original component submitted for adoption (e.g., an alternate format soft cover teacher edition and the adopted hard teacher edition, should be comparatively priced).
If you have any post-adoption questions, please contact Mary Sprague, Consultant, Curriculum Frameworks Unit, at 916-319-0510 or by e-mail at msprague@cde.ca.gov. You may also contact Suzanne Rios, Administrator, Instructional Resources Unit, at
916-319-0665 or by e-mail at srios@cde.ca.gov.
Sincerely,
Thomas Adams, Director
Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division
TA:ms
Attachment
cc:
Theodore Mitchell, President, State Board of Education
Anthony Monreal, Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction Branch
Chair, Curriculum Commission
Chair, Mathematics Subject Matter Committee
Dale Shimasaki, Association of American Publishers
1430 N Street
Sacramento, CA 95814