Teachers question adequacy of new Spanish textbooks adopted by Glendale Unified
The Glendale school board agreed this week to adopt a new Spanish language textbook, despite concerns from some teachers who said the book is not in line with newly proposed academic standards.
School officials, however, say they are pressed to adopt the book for the more than 3,200 students in middle school and high school who are studying Spanish as a foreign language because the current books are 10 years old and cannot be replaced.
“There is very much a concern from the teachers at the school site levels that the books they have are falling apart. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult buying replacement books for books that are literally out of print,” said Kelly King, assistant superintendent of Glendale Unified, during Tuesday’s school board meeting.
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The book, “¡Qué chévere!,” published by EMC Publishing will replace the current Spanish textbook series, “¡En español!”, published by Houghton Mifflin. Glendale Unified has used the latter series for nearly two decades, according to a district report.
Rosemont Middle School Spanish teacher Laura Narvaez-Rivera criticized the new book series, however, for lacking “rich language, culture and content,” and told school board members, “It doesn’t develop cultural awareness.”
Although she is not a Glendale Unified teacher, Natalie Ardagna, who teaches Spanish at St. Francis High School, also spoke against the book. She said the selected series “is not in line, truly, with our new world-language standards.”
Before the book went before the school board for approval, it had been vetted and recommended by the majority of a 20-member textbook review committee, made up of Spanish teachers across Glendale Unified.
It was one of seven options that teachers considered adopting, and meetings over the books produced “a lively discussion,” King said, noting that the two most preferred books of the seven fell short because their publishers “have not caught up with the proposed foreign language standards yet.” She added that California likely won’t adopt the new standards within the next two to three years.
Part of the shift in standards involves moving students from memorizing grammar and vocabulary words toward embracing a “very communication based” method, where students focus on comprehending and speaking the language with their foreign language teacher, according to school board member Jennifer Freemon.
King suggested adopting a new Spanish book in several years, when the publishers create new books tied to the new standards and Advanced Placement exam, instead of relying on decade-old books until then.
“Once those textbooks do come out ... while it is an expense five years down the road, it may not be an inappropriate expense to do a new adoption at that point,” she said.
School board members supported that plan, and voted 5-0 to adopt the “¡Qué chévere!” series.
The latest adoption could cost the district anywhere from $384,000 to $730,000, depending on whether teachers opt to purchase additional online components that accompany the textbook.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
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