UH group offers teachers textbooks
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
At a time when the state school system faces budget cuts and a serious shortage of textbooks in the classroom, the University of Hawai'i College of Education yesterday offered to give 10,000 new textbooks worth $300,000 to public school teachers across the state.
• Teachers interested in the free textbook offer can find applications and more information online or by calling CRDG at 956-7961.
The college's Curriculum Research and Development Group, or CRDG, which has long developed math, science, literature and social studies texts for schools, will offer free classroom sets of 30 books to teachers who enroll in workshops this summer to learn how to use the curriculum.
To sign up
The offer of Algebra I, science and language arts books is available to all public school teachers on a first-come, first-served basis.
"There are teachers who use these texts and they may jump at this opportunity," said Clayton Fujie, deputy superintendent of the Department of Education.
While most Hawai'i residents have probably never heard of CRDG and its work, textbooks from the group are used in 42 states and six countries by about 500,000 students each year.
The well-regarded University Laboratory School — today a public charter school known as The Education Laboratory — is the CRDG's pilot- and field-test site.
At the Lab School, university faculty members spend years developing and testing coursework on students who represent a statistical cross-section of the state. Much of the curriculum from the group has won national or international recognition. A curriculum program called FAST, for Foundational Approaches in Science Teaching, which is among the free texts being offered, has been named as one of two exemplary programs in the country by the U.S. Department of Education's Mathematics and Science Education Expert Panel.
While teachers receive the texts free, in return they would provide feedback to CRDG that will help researchers gather data on how well the curriculum works on students. "These texts are never done," said Randy Hitz, dean of the College of Education.
Barbara Dougherty, a CRDG research and math teacher, said the group is always interested in trying to make texts more effective for student achievement.
Teachers who choose the language arts books do not have to enroll in summer classes, but those who would like the math or science texts must take a one- to two-week course this summer, at a cost of either $67 for math or $167 for science, to learn how to use the curriculum. Hitz said the school cannot waive the fees because the tuition is required by the UH Outreach College or the DOE for teachers to receive professional development credits.
CRDG officials said they wanted to help alleviate the textbook shortage in the public schools and looked at how much inventory they could spare this year. But they do not expect the textbook giveaway to be available next year.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
