State Board Rules Math Books Fail to Fulfill Higher Standards

By an 11-0 vote, the state Board of Education on Friday formally rejected the mathematics textbooks submitted by 14 publishers for use in kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms next year, saying that the books failed to follow the state’s framework for improving mathematics instruction.

The board had indicated in a preliminary vote last month that it favored postponing the adoption of new texts for one year to allow the publishers to rewrite their books.

According to state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, the publishers may begin to submit revised manuscripts next month. The manuscripts will be reviewed by a panel of mathematics educators before the board takes final action on the textbooks late next year.

State education officials said they would like to see changes in the textbooks that incorporate use of computers and calculators and place greater emphasis on problem-solving strategy and understanding number concepts. Current books tend to emphasize memorization and pencil-and-paper computation, they said.

About 10 publishers have indicated that they will rewrite their books to try to meet California’s requirements, Honig said.

The state, which annually spends about $100 million on textbooks, adopts books in different subject areas in seven-year cycles. Local school districts must purchase books from the state’s approved list.