www.albanyherald.net/frontsarchive/2007/front012507.htm -
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Published on: 1/25/2007
Last Visited: 3/1/2007
Some students don't have a textbook for every subject, in part because of a shortage, said Dianne Daniels, executive director of curriculum and instruction for the Dougherty County School System.
Instead, students may have to receive supplemental resources or Web addresses that contain up-to-date, relevant information for what's being taught in public Dougherty County classrooms.Still, it's tough for some parents to get beyond the fact that their child may not have a book.
"textbooks are strictly a resource. ...The textbook is not the curriculum," Daniels said Wednesday during a presentation to the Dougherty County Board of Education.It was a point she stressed to board members numerous times during the noon working session.
"We're trying to get that message out, but it will still take some time," she said.
Daniels noted that textbook companies offer online versions of their hardback books, so students that do not have individual copies have e-access to the books.
The Georgia Board of Education has a seven-year adoption cycle for school books, so basically, books are good for seven years.
That might work for subjects such as language arts, but it's not ideal for the maths or sciences, especially, Daniels said.
"It's a challenge because math is changing," she said.New mathematics textbooks were adopted in 2006.
School systems, she said, don't have to adopt the texts, but they do have a responsibility to provide students with adequate materials for learning.
Daniels said it's a challenge faced by school systems throughout the nation.
In Daniels' update, which made up the bulk of the meeting, held at Jackson Heights Elementary School, she briefed School Board members on the modified school day for high schools.
The modified day, which has been implemented at all the high schools except for Westover High School, allows the system to slip in extra-help time for students who need it.
The day wasn't extended, but simply divided up differently, with a "zero hour" and "seventh hour" and a modified third-hour hour.
Asked by board members why Westover had not adopted the new day, Daniels and DCSS Superintendent Sally Whatley explained that the schools were given the option of accepting a "safety net model" such the modified day or creating their own.
...
Westover officials chose to create a plan that better fit its student population, Whatley and Daniels said.
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