State Education Board Approves New Textbook Review Process

By Amber Lester Kennedy Friday, March 25, 2011

The Virginia Board of Education withdrew its approval Thursday of the first editions of two elementary history textbooks published by Five Ponds Press.

Fourth-grade textbook “Our Virginia: Past and Present” and fifth-grade textbook “Our America to 1865” both contain significant errors that were first exposed by Carol Sheriff, a professor at the College of William and Mary whose child brought the Virginia history book home. Among other mistakes, it erroneously stated the Confederacy had two battalions of black soldiers that were commanded by Gen. Stonewall Jackson.

Both texts are used in Williamsburg-James City County schools. In January, Coordinator of Social Studies Theresa Redd sent a letter to parents that indicated teachers will pull information from last year’s textbooks, but continue to use the Five Ponds Press books for pictures and graphics.

At its meeting, the Board of Education also approved a revised textbook review and adoption process that requires publishers to provide documentation showing their textbooks have been reviewed by qualified experts for factual accuracy before they are submitted to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) for review and to the board for inclusion on the list of state-approved textbooks.

The new process requires publishers to submit with every book a list of authors and their qualifications and provide proof that at least three experts in the subject matter vouch for the text’s accuracy. Publishers will also be required to submit a corrective action plan to VDOE within 30 days if errors are found. Once the corrective action plan is approved by the superintendent of public instruction or by the board, publishers must implement the plan at their own expense.

The board also directed that in the event Five Ponds Press submits corrected second editions of “Our Virginia: Past and Present” and “Our America to 1865” for review and approval, the revised books go through the new approval process.

The Virginia Department of Education asked a panel of historians to review the textbooks late last year and numerous factual, grammatical and spelling errors were found. In early January, Five Ponds Press Publisher Lou Scolnik pledged to replace all copies of both books for free this summer, while updating the electronic versions this semester. WJCC purchased the books last summer for $88,825.

A second book review took place in January to study two more Five Ponds books — a Kindergarten to third grade history book and a social science textbook. That review also identified errors.

“The errors in these books do not rise to the level of those found in the fourth-grade and fifth-grade textbooks,” said State Superintendent Patricia Wright in a press release. “I am confident that the process approved by the board today will ensure that the inaccuracies are addressed promptly by the publisher and that students in schools using these books continue to receive accurate instruction.”

Wright proposed the board require Five Ponds Press to submit a corrective action plan to address the errors in the K-3 books, and the board approved that plan Thursday.