TCAT BLOG
Reports of Texas
Determining Textbook Content for
Students across the Nation Are an "Urban
Myth"
T
exas
Tribune
Brian Thevenot
March
26, 2010
As the
media attention surrounding the State
Board of Education's revising social
studies standards exploded nationally in
recent weeks, a primary narrative has
emerged: that whatever Texas' SBOE
members decide will be published in
textbooks nationwide for years to come.
Textbook publishers, however,
conclusively correct this persistent
myth.
Though
Texas has been painted in scores of
media reports as the big dog that wags
the textbook industry tail, that's
simply no longer true--and will become
even less true in the future, as
technological advances and political
shifts transform the marketplace, said
Jay Diskey, executive director of the
Association of American Publisher's
School Division. Diskey calls the
persistent reports of Texas dominating
the market an "urban myth."
To read the Texas Tribune article,
click
here
Outside Texas,
Alarm Over Textbook Changes
Los Angeles Times
Richard
Fausset
March 22, 2010
When
Texas' State Board of Education voted
for new social studies standards this
month, parents, teachers and lawmakers
far beyond the Lone State state took
notice. Observers have warned that those
new standards could seep into textbooks
throughout the country, because Texas is
one of the nation's largest textbook
buyers.
But it is far from clear
that non-Texans will be subjected to the
proposed changes, once they are
finalized, as expected.
Publishers have grown accustomed to
regularly printing different textbooks
to conform to different states' needs,
according to Jay Diskey, executive
director of the Association of American
Publisher's School Division. The new
Texas standards, he said, won't change
that. "It's gotten to be an
exaggeration, if not an urban legend,
about how curriculum in Texas
automatically hops state lines," he
said.
To read the Los Angeles
Times article,
click
here
Top-Notch Educational Content Remains
Crucial: Publishers Respond to
Statesman
Article
T
exas
Curriculum
March
11, 2010
Publishers today responded to the March
10 Austin American-Statesman
article, "Texas'
Influence on Textbooks Could Wane -
Budget Woes, Technology Advances Make
Battles over Book Content Less
Important" with a Letter to the Editor.
While commending the Statesman's front
page coverage of this critical
issue--the transition to digital
instructional materials in the
classroom, the Letter to the Editor also
underscores the importance of ensuring
quality educational content for Texas
schoolchildren in the midst of this
transition.
To read the
Statesman article,
click here
To read the Letter to the Editor,
click
here
Let's Make Texas School Kids
Post-Election Season Winners:
Tincy Miller Defeat Could Put Funding in
Peril
Texas Insider
Jim Cardle
March 3, 2010
When
voters headed to the polls
for yesterday’s March 2nd Primary, most
were focused on the choice immediately
in front of them: which candidate to
vote for on the ballot.
Funding
for Proclamation 2011 – the $495 million
that has been set aside to purchase
instructional materials for the state’s
five million public school students –
one can safely assume, played little or
no role in how yesterday’s voting
decisions were made.
The
82nd Texas Legislative Session begins in
January 2011, and convening lawmakers
will be faced with budget shortfalls
mandating difficult choices.
Unfortunately, Texas schoolchildren are
especially vulnerable to the
consequences of these budget cuts.
SBOE to Consider
Tighter Rules to Monitor "Open Source"
Textbook Issue
Texas Insider
Geraldine "Tincy" Miller
February 1, 2010
AUSTIN -
Last week, the State Board of Education
(SBOE) met for the first time in 2010.
It was an exciting meeting with a very
packed agenda, and consequently we were
not able to complete everything.
For instance, the Board had planned to
consider a tighter set of rules to help
the Texas Education Agency monitor the
“Open Source” Textbook issue, but due to
the constraints on time, we elected to
wait until the next meeting to discuss
it.
To continue reading,
click here
Perry has his allies in "Race to the
Top" debate
Amarillo Globe-News
January 24, 2010
AUSTIN -
When it comes to public education
issues, Anette Carlisle does not always
see eye to eye with Gov. Rick Perry and
other state leaders.
But
Carlisle, president of the Amarillo
Independent School District Board of
Trustees, agrees that Perry was right to
decide Texas wouldn't compete for a
federal education grant that could have
brought as much as $700 million to
cash-strapped school districts in the
state.
To continue reading,
click here
Perry won't let Texas compete for
federal school money
Houston Chronicle
January 13, 2009
Texas
will not compete for a potential $700
million in federal grant funding for
schools, Gov. Rick Perry said Wednesday,
because it could give Washington too
much say in deciding what the state's
students should learn.
To
continue reading,
click here
Texas Must Proceed Carefully with Open
Source Materials and Curriculum
Texas Curriculum
January 11, 2010
In
2010, Texas school districts will be
faced with new open source textbook
materials,
also known as online
content. The transition to digital
content represents a dramatic
step
forward for Texas classrooms. But the
same oversight, review and regulation
that
the state has always used with
print materials should apply to digital
and online content
as well. To
continue reading,
click here
Click
here
to learn about
Innovations in Reading Instruction
Click
here
to learn about
Publisher-Developed Instructional
Programs
Click
here
to learn about
New English as a Second Language
Materials
"Open Source" Textbooks Are Reason for
Grave Concern
Texas Insider
Geraldine “Tincy” Miller, SBOE Dist. 12
December 18, 2009
The
week before Thanksgiving, the State
Board of Education (SBOE) met for its
November meeting and a number of issues
were covered that were of great
importance. Many of these issues are
nearing critical decision points which
are scheduled for our upcoming January &
March SBOE Meetings.
To continue reading,
click
here
State Considers
Open-Source Rulemaking
The State Board of Education
(SBOE) has limited presence
HB 2488 gives the SBOE limited
oversight. The same rules do not apply to open-source textbooks as
they do with traditional instructional materials.