[wiglaf1979]

``` If it wasn't bad enough that the politicians feel the need to change things up regularly, you have the well known problems of the morally bankrupt textbook and calculator industries. Unless of course, your school doesn't have enough money to have a book for every student (not a hypothetical; I never saw a math textbook during my time in BTR). ```

I did a similar route for Arkansas and the Non-Traditional Licensure program. My first year teaching circa 2004 I had 18 math text books for Algebra I class that had 25-ish students. The kicker was it was the exact same book that I had when I was a freshman in high school in 1993.

Not only did I not have enough text books, I was using a text book that was at least one maybe two shifts in teaching standards away. Hell, we had a smart board given to the school as part of a grant but no one could use it for fear of tearing it up. A locked up resource does no good, nevermind that a Smart board is useful but at best is a nice to have. Textbooks are a must have in comparison.

It was an utter shit show and explains more about why education in Arkansas is horrible.

[Ididntdothis]

Maybe I am misreading your comment but I am wondering. Why would a math book that was OK ten years ago not be OK now? It’s not like math is changing much. Seems to me that textbooks should be relatively timeless in most subjects.

[wiglaf1979]

In principle it should be but in this case the devil was in the details.

Take the Quadratic Expression forms

  o Standard Form: ax^2 + bx + c
  o Factored Form: a(x – r1)(x – r2)
  o Vertex Form: a(x – h)^2 + k

Arkansas could decide that in Algebra I all students must know those three forms. But the book I had was created off of a standard that said that the Factored/Vertex forms weren't needed until Algebra II so it didn't cover all of them.

I would have needed to recognize that shortcoming and figured out a way to cover it so that my students didn't appear to be lacking according to the ever-shifting standards. Not impossible but arbitrarily stupid to redesign the standards every couple of years.

[Ididntdothis]

" redesign the standards every couple of years."

That seems to be the real problem.