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Meeting Date:
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2/25/2021 - 6:30 PM
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Category:
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Report of the Committee on Student Achievement and School Innovation
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Type:
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Action
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Subject:
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2. Approval of Areas To Be Opened For Textbook Study During the 2020-2021 School Year For Texts To Be Used Beginning With The 2021-2022 School Year
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Strategic Plan Compatibility Statement:
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Goal 1 Academic Achievement Goal 3 Effective and Efficient Operations
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Attachments
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Full Board Item
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File Attachment:
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Background:
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MPS Administrative Policy 7.26 and Administrative Procedure 7.26, Textbooks/Instructional Materials Adoption, provides that as adoptions near expiration, the Administration shall report the subject areas, along with the titles of the textbooks/instructional materials for which adopted textbooks/instructional materials have been in use seven years or more and may be discontinued at the end of the following school year.
In order to provide for inclusion and alignment to the district’s Ambitious Instruction 3.0 plan, general criteria for textbooks/instructional materials evaluation are provided to the textbooks/instructional materials evaluation committees. These criteria include availability of Spanish partner language and high quality materials for use in bilingual classrooms; alignment to the district’s literacy and language-development goals; and alignment to adopted standards and graduation requirements. In addition, each evaluation committee will develop its own specific criteria applicable to the subject area under consideration.
The Administration may also recommend opening any subject areas for adoption study in which no textbook adoption is in effect, but in which an adoption is considered desirable.
Every student has the need for, and right to, textbooks/instructional materials that support learning and achievement. Since 2018, MPS has worked to develop and refine a comprehensive plan to improve student outcomes. The plan has two main elements: Five Priorities for Success, a series of organizational-wide strategies to reinforce key efforts; and a regional development effort to increase the number of high-performing seats throughout the district while creating learning pathways for students and families and also improving the capacity of quality community support activities. The district goals guide all MPS efforts: Academic Achievement, Student, Family, and Community Engagement, and Effective and Efficient Operations.
The Administration is recommending opening the following subject areas for adoption study during the 2020-21 school year:
• Literacy – Including Bilingual and English as a Second Language (Gr. K-8)
Due to the significant number of students with print disabilities, MPS needs to ensure that alternative formats (audio, large print, Braille, digital, accessible web-based, site license for electronic access) as well as supplemental intervention resources are available at the time of the adoption of new textbook/instructional materials. Instructional materials include, but are not limited to, electronic resources (e-books) or other technology and manipulative materials. Publishers will be requested to provide information about availability of the above-mentioned formats.
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Fiscal Impact Statement:
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This item does not authorize expenditures. The estimated cost of implementing the textbook adoption for these areas is $12,000,000.
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Implementation and Assessment Plan
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The procedures listed below will be implemented following Board action with respect to opening subject areas for textbook adoption study.
a. When a subject area is to be opened for adoption, an evaluation committee led by a curriculum specialist, shall be established to study and evaluate available materials and make recommendations to the Superintendent concerning textbook/instructional materials adoptions for the subject areas.
b. Principals and teachers are notified.
c. Parents are notified and invited to serve on the parent advisory committee for textbook/instructional material evaluation. In addition, community organizations such as the District Advisory Committee, La Causa, United Community Center, NAACP and Urban League are invited to send parent representatives. In an effort to further increase parent involvement in the textbook/instructional material evaluation process, the Administration will also solicit parents through School Governance Councils.
d. Publishers are notified.
e. Teacher nominations and expressions of interest in serving on textbook/instructional materials evaluation committees for the various subject areas are obtained.
f. Textbook/instructional materials evaluation committees are appointed.
g. Curriculum specialists provide training for textbook/instructional material evaluation committee members on selecting culturally responsive materials that promote critical thinking.
h. Textbook/instructional materials evaluation committees establish criteria for evaluating materials, based on the most recent literature and research related to instruction in that area. The committees obtain and evaluate available materials; meet with parents, publishers, representatives; and solicit reactions and assistance from other teachers, department chairpersons, curriculum committees, etc.
i. Curriculum Specialists and the Department of Procurement review the proposals submitted by the textbook/instructional material publisher.
j. Textbook/instructional materials evaluation committees formulate recommendations with respect to the subject areas and the materials under evaluation for possible adoption and present the recommendations for textbooks/instructional materials adoptions to the superintendent in a confidential report. The textbook/instructional materials evaluation committee may recommend a single adoption for a subject/course or; they may recommend delaying adoption pending further study.
Based upon the proposed timeline, textbook/instructional material evaluation committees would be appointed no later than March 2021. The committee will conduct the study during the months of March and April and submit a recommendation to the Superintendent in April 2021. After considering the evaluation committee's report, the Superintendent will submit recommendations to the Milwaukee Board of School Directors for consideration in May 2021.
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Recommendation:
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Your Committee recommends that the Board approve the following areas to be opened for textbook study for texts to be used during the 2021-2022 school year: Literacy K-8, Bilingual Literacy K-8, English as a Second Language K-8.
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Approvals:
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Recommended By:
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Signed By:
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Jacqueline M. Mann, Ph.D. - Board Clerk/Chief Officer
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