Ms. Carol Knight, PWCS Mathematics
Department to PWCS Board 21 May 08:
“Good Evening chairman Johns, members of the board, Dr.
Walts. My name is Carol Knight, my
address is on file with Mrs. Thorp.
After reading the
letter [PWCS
parent’s name redacted by request]
gave board members
on May 7th, I feel compelled to speak tonight. In this letter, [PWCS parent’s
name redacted by request] states
the evidence provided
by Prince William county schools suggests the likelihood of a biased process
and actions taken to circumvent compliance with Prince William County School
regulations and standard operating procedures in order to select
Investigations. The evidence [PWCS
parent’s name redacted by request]
refers to is mostly
a box of materials that were left after the adoption process was
completed. It contained evaluation
sheets from teachers within the county and sheets the textbook members left at
the end of each meeting.
Nothing
in the regulation required teachers to turn in their notes, nor for us to keep
them. It just so happened that the
box had never been thrown out so when asked because of a FOIA request if we had
any of these things, I gave the box to Mrs. McGowan (PWCS Board Attorney). I can assure you that staff members
from the office of Mathematics were acutely aware of state and division
regulations and fully complied with all of them.
[PWCS parent’s
name redacted by request] states
that alignment with
the Virginia SOL was explicitly excluded from the Prince William County formal
criteria. The state had already
provided us with a content alignment and had approved texts based on that
information. Committee members
were provided with the content profile sheets and the textbook materials for
every text. The committee focused
on how the content was taught.
These processes had not been evaluated at the state
level, as had the
content. Before discussing the
text, individual members were asked to complete an evaluation form with
evidence supporting their ratings in order to guide their discussions. Forms were also available
for teachers
and parents in the community to fill out.
These were discussed as well during the meetings. The number of textbook evaluation forms
present in the box that [PWCS parent’s name
redacted by request] received via
his FOIA request is not reflective of the
attendance at these meetings nor of the number of people who evaluated each
text. [PWCS
parent’s name
redacted by request] states that
the 5th
grade text completely failed the content match for grade 5. This is not true. The profile sheet indicated that it met
most of the content for this grade level.
Actually, it met the same number as grade 4 which
was approved by the
state.” (See "What VA DOE Says About TERC page this site for the truth from VA DOE…)
School districts
are allowed to
adopt a text that is not recommended by the state. The committee felt that it was important that we have a K-5
series in order to provide cohesion and continuity between the grade
levels. This recommendation by the
textbook committee was not made lightly.
Members of this textbook committee were some of our
finest teachers,
recommended by their administrators, and most of whom had engaged in additional
study of mathematics after earning their degrees. They took their job very seriously and were committed to
recommending a textbook that would best meet the needs of all students in
Prince William county schools.
This committee included 34 dedicated professional
educators as well as
parents even though only ten were required by regulation. The members of the office
of
Mathematics who facilitated these committee meetings did not have a vote and
remained neutral in the discussions that ensued. The work of this committee deserves our respect and
appreciation.
I would like to
thank you for
your leadership as you help to improve education, Mathematics education in
Prince William.”
