ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana — The Rapides Parish School Board adopted a reading textbook series for next school year.
The Town Talk reports (http://townta.lk/17GBSrY ) the state suggested that districts wait to adopt reading series due to the implementation of Common Core State Standards curriculum this fall.
But the Rapides board on Monday night approved purchasing the Journeys Common Core reading series from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. A Department of Education textbook committee voted 7-6 that the series was not in line with Common Core — a set of uniform benchmarks for English and math classes to be implemented in all grades in Louisiana by 2014-15.
"Although districts are free to purchase any textbooks and are not reliant on state adoptions, the Department does not recommend that districts invest in new materials because of significant misalignments to the Common Core State Standards and forthcoming state assessments," the DOE website states under "Content and Textbooks."
Superintendent Nason "Tony" Authement recommended that the board adopt the Journeys series based on the DOE committee's vote and the recommendation by a district textbook committee.
Authement suggested purchasing the series first for grades 2-5 with the $650,000 the district has for textbooks and then for kindergarten and first grade upon available funding.
Textbook allotment funds would be used to add to the series in future years, Authement said. Finance Director Liz Domite said Minimum Foundation Program funds from the state can be used for K-5 textbooks and could help cover the lower grades this year.
The series for kindergarten and first-grade students would cost an additional $577,000, including shipping, Domite said.
The lower grades are more expensive because the series includes more consumables, such as workbooks that cannot be reused, for younger students, she said.
Information from: Alexandria Daily Town Talk, http://www.thetowntalk.com
