I know in my math classes, "show your work" was often important in explaining how you solved a math problem, but the Guv & his cronies don't seem to believe in that.
Vetting new math textbooks in FL: Some books got high scores but mysteriously were rejected
Publishers perplexed over decisions made by Department of Education’s math textbook review
https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/04/19/v ... -rejected/
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The publishers of these textbooks don’t seem to know either,
even through the department gave high scores to some of their mathematics books but the books were rejected as part of a state review on math textbooks in Florida.
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According to a new link from Department of Education, one of Savvas’s books, enVision Florida B.E.S.T Mathematics Grade 2,
received a high score from the department for aligning to new state standards, but was rejected for “Inclusion of Special Topics.”
Which topics? The document does not elaborate.
The new link showed up Monday on the department’s website, outlining the 54 books that were rejected; a score indicating the books’ alignment to state math standards, and a “yes” or “no” response to the prompt “inclusion of special topics.”
Yet, a Friday Department of Education press release promoted the department’s rejection of “Publishers’ Attempts to Indoctrinate Students,” reasons for which included “references to Critical Race Theory (CRT), inclusions of Common Core, and the unsolicited addition of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in mathematics.”
(
Common Core is an earlier initiative that involved K-12 math and English standards for what students should know and would be considered consistent across states. The initiative became controversial. As to critical race theory, that originated in graduate level law studies decades ago, according to the American Bar Association.)
Another rejected Savvas math textbook, simply titled Precalculus,
received one of the highest scores on the the list in aligning with state standards. Yet it also had “Inclusion of Special Topics.” It was rejected, according to state documents.
McGraw Hill, another textbook industry staple, had eight of their books rejected by the department out of 16 submitted titles.
One of their books, Florida Reveal Math, Grade 2, was also fairly aligned to state standards, and did not have so-called “special topics” included, but was not approved by the department, according to state documents. (My note: So; why?)
McGraw Hill seems fuzzy on the details of their rejection too.
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Meanwhile, for K-5 grades, the state department approved math textbooks from only one company, Accelerate Learning,
even if the department found those textbooks were less aligned to state standards than the ones they rejected.
For example, Accelerate Learning’s STEMscopes Florida Math for fifth grade earned a lower score than Big Ideas Learning’s Florida B.E.S.T for Math, Grade 5. But Big Ideas Learning’s book did not make it on to the approved list, even though it did not include so-called “special topics” and had a higher score.
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Timmy, here is a math problem.
Math Textbook A (let's call it "Macaw Hill") has a higher score, meets more of the state's own standards, and is used by more states.
Textbook B (let's call it "Decelerate Learning") has a lower score, meets less of its own standards, and is the only one being adopted by the Governor.
Timmy, is the Governor corrupt, an idiot, full of BS, or a mixture of all three?
