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April 2008
Dear YANA
I was asked to serve on my school district's text book adoption committee. I know what I like and don't like about our current textbook, but I have never done anything like this before and would like some advice on how to approach this important responsibility.
Hello,
You are indeed correct when you indicate that selecting a textbook is an important and far-reaching activity and you are right to approach it with a sense of the responsibility that was bestowed upon you. For those of you who are not serving on such a committee, be sure you make your ideas known to a representative. Volunteer your name for the next time around. Stay informed in the interim. The more all of us are involved in the choices that affect our daily work routine, the more control we have over a positive outcome.
Along with everything else I am going to suggest, please keep in mind what is appropriate for your community, both in terms of demographics and finances, including price contracts for the duration of the adoption cycle. You want to look at all levels in a series, not just what you teach, from the point of view of the teacher, the student, and the parents. Ancillaries are secondary and should be used to break a tie, especially if there is a cost involved.
It is very likely that your state has already done some of the groundwork for you by reviewing and approving several series. This means they will have looked at how the books deal with the state standards for foreign languages and the soundness of the pedagogy. In addition, they will have considered such mundane things as the durability of the book itself.
Things to consider in a general overview
- uncluttered pages
- easy to understand icons
- useful references
- size and weight of book
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- durability of student text
- sufficient support included in the text to not need many of the ancillaries
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Things to consider from the students' point of view
- organization of the textbook
- useful icons
- comfortable size (for carrying and for desktop use)
- up-to-date photographs and cultural items
- clear drawings
- consistent format
- consistent color coding
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- colorful and uncluttered
- clear, concise directions
- easy-to-follow models
- variety of exercises
- easy to locate vocabulary listings
- easy to use grammar help
- interesting content
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Things to consider from the teachers' point of view
- organization of the textbook
- front matter includes a schematic of how the various parts fit together
- reasonable to cover in one year
- How does the “extra” material in a text get treated in the next level
- useful and easy to interpret icons
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- spend equal time covering skills and standards in a proficiency approach
- photos and other cultural information up to date
- incremental learning, re-entered regularly
- vocabulary presented in manageable groups
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Ancillaries: workbook
- address the same skills and standards as the text
- treat the same material as the text
- reflect incremental learning
- contain a variety of exercises
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- contain a variety of exercises
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Ancillaries: transparencies
- reflect text material
- clear and uncluttered
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Ancillaries: audio-visual
- reflect text material
- speech is clear
- speed is sensible
- pauses are sufficient
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- repetition is appropriate
- contains different pronunciation patterns
- images and content are appropriate, relevant, and up-to-date
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I wish you luck in this endeavor. Choosing a textbook series by committee is an exercise in accommodation and compromise. Whatever the committee chooses must be acceptable to a variety of teaching and learning styles, as well as a variety of ages and interests.
YANA
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