What Did I Sign Up For? Part Two

What Did I Sign Up For? Part Two

In May, I blogged about my beginning experience as an Instructional Materials Reviewer for the State Board of Education's 2018 Science Adoption. This involved a 4-day training in Sacramento and then a 2-month independent review of the science materials to which I was assigned. Here is my first blog post about that experience:
What Did I Sign Up For? Part One

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. 

-Robert Burns

To get started on my independent review, I set up a schedule.  I had three programs to review (which I am told by colleagues who have done this process before, is A LOT).  Two of the programs were K-5, and the third one was 4th grade only. So I broke it down into 13 parts.  My plan was to get through two grades levels a week in order to be finished before deliberations in July. Fortunately, the publishers must follow a template with citations for reviewers to use, which helped me find evidence of the criteria required by the State.  My materials arrived at my school site in May.  One program involved a pallet! My first task was to inventory everything.  Then I took it all home and stored it in my garage until school was over.  The first day of vacation, I started.  I finished one program in one week! I was exhausted but felt accomplished. Then my kids and husband started their summer vacation, and that's where my momentum slowed way down. I got overwhelmed thinking about starting all over with another program.  I procrastinated.  The end of June came, and I forced myself to complete the second program.  It took over three weeks.  And I still had one more program to go (luckily, it was only one grade level).  I finished my notes on that last program in a Sacramento hotel room the morning of deliberations.

The democratic process is only as great as the people who participate in it.  -Jeff Miller

When my panel and I reconvened in July to deliberate our findings, we learned that many other panels lost some reviewers. I suspect some of those losses were due to unforeseen circumstances, but my guess is that most of them lost their momentum and quit.  This task was huge so I can understand, but I was still disappointed that many of the others who did fulfill their duties had more responsibility placed on their shoulders. I felt so fortunate that those on my panel persevered and made it to the end with me. It was amazing to see the commitment materialized in that room.  Much like jury deliberations, we first went through each category and criteria and voted. In our favor, there were only a few items that needed discussion.  My panel was professional, passionate, and respectful. We wrote our Report of Findings (ROF) for each program and submitted them to the IQC (Instructional Quality Commission) for acceptance.  They were, and we were done!  The next step is for the IQC to complete the second layer of review from our ROFs, and then they will submit their recommendations to the State Board of Education (SBE) for adoption.  The SBE will officially adopt recommended programs in November, and then school districts can invite publishers to present for pilot review.

All in all, I am happy that I participated in this process.  It was intriguing to see this process unfold and the commitment exuded from passionate educators.  I am unsure if I would participate again, yet I DO recommend it!  There are some adoptions coming up for Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA), Health Education, and Computer Science in the next couple of years if you are interested in applying in the future.  Check out the California Department of Education website for opportunities!

CDE

Happy and Positive Teaching!
Erin Grebel