Va. Board Of Ed Wants To Improve Book Review Process

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, January 15, 2011

"Our Virginia" includes several errors.

At its Thursday meeting, the board directed Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia Wright to come up with a process to help the board decide whether the two books, both published by Connecticut-based Five Ponds Press, should be included on a list of approved books. The board adopted the directives as a motion made by board member David Foster of Arlington.

The board also asked Wright to ask experts to review all Five Ponds textbooks included on the approved books list and seek potential remedies from the publisher for school divisions that purchased the books. The books are the fourth-grade textbook, “Our Virginia: Past and Present” and the fifth-grade book, “Our America: To 1865.”

The books have been scrutinized since October, when The Washington Post published a story highlighting errors in “Our Virginia” that were discovered by William and Mary Professor Carol Sheriff. Following the discovery, the Virginia Department of Education asked a team of historians and experts to review the books, and they found several factual, grammatical and spelling errors. The books are used in Williamsburg-James City County Schools.

Wright was also asked to present a plan to improve the state’s process to review textbooks. The board wants to ensure that textbooks are reviewed by qualified experts for accuracy before they are submitted to the Department of Education for review.

When the books were reviewed last year, a team of three elementary school teachers evaluated the books for their teachability and kid-friendliness. Now, the Department of Education might require publishers to produce documentation that experts have thoroughly reviewed texts, according to Charles Pyle, director of communications for the department.

On Tuesday, Five Ponds Press Publisher Lou Scolnik announced the company will replace all copies of both books for free this summer. He said the company is working with a historian from “a prominent university in Virginia” to respond to the Department of Education’s concerns and correct the book’s second editions. He said the company plans to respond point-by-point by Jan. 21, and the first set of revisions will be available online by Jan. 15. Read more about the issue here.