how is a "california edition" textbook different

[love2read]

Amazon prices for used California editions of science textbooks, and other state editions, are usually cheaper than just the regular editions. Is there a noticeable difference in the content or is it a matter of the scope and sequence for the state being clearly stated in the intro chapter?

[love2read]

:bigear:

[unity]

I once had a California earth science text and there were special sections inserted into it that were titled things like "California content standards review," and extra quizzes, etc, for California students. My understanding is that the powerhouse states (California, Texas, and, um, Florida?) get to dictate what goes in the textbooks and the textbooks are written to comply with those standards. The other states and hs'ers just pick one.

[Crimson Wife]

California mandates public schools only use textbooks off the state-approved list and that those texts follow the state standards.

 

I used the CA edition of Prentice-Hall Science Explorer: Focus on Life Science and the content was virtually identical to the content in the individual volumes that were not specifically CA-approved. It just listed the relevant correlations to the state standards and had a couple of pages in each chapter devoted to test prep for the California STAR standardized test in science.

 

Now the CA standards edition of Singapore Primary Math is a bit different from the old U.S. edition. Singapore had to shift certain topics into lower grade levels and add certain topics that weren't covered at all in the U.S. edition (most notably in probability & statistics).

[DawnM]

My guess is that the textbooks clearly state the CA Standards for the classroom

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/standards/CSTP-2009.pdf

 

I worked for 16 years in public education in CA and by the time I stopped working in the classroom to move to the counseling office, the rule was that all teachers had to POST the standards being worked on for the day. We had to have it on our boards CLEARLY written so that the students knew what the standard was for the day and how we were going to cover it.

 

Never mind that the students never even paid attention! :lol::tongue_smilie:

 

But, in our textbooks, each standard was written clearly at the beginning of the lesson so that we knew exactly what to copy to the board for the students.

 

Dawn

[klmama]

I've used a number of Florida-specific copies of science texts. The content appears to be the same as the regular versions except that they have sections to help students prepare for the Florida state standardized tests, usually at the end of each chapter or unit. I assume California's are similar.

[LaxMom]

My guess is that the textbooks clearly state the CA Standards for the classroom

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-prep/standards/CSTP-2009.pdf

 

I worked for 16 years in public education in CA and by the time I stopped working in the classroom to move to the counseling office, the rule was that all teachers had to POST the standards being worked on for the day. We had to have it on our boards CLEARLY written so that the students knew what the standard was for the day and how we were going to cover it.

 

Never mind that the students never even paid attention! :lol::tongue_smilie:

 

But, in our textbooks, each standard was written clearly at the beginning of the lesson so that we knew exactly what to copy to the board for the students.

 

Dawn

 

How very... Odd. Why on earth would the students give a rat's rump what standard was being covered on any given day?

[justasque]

I've bought a variety of state-specific math texts over the years, mostly McDougal Littell, as well as some Science Explorer texts. As PP's have mentioned, the state standards are often included, and sometimes there is state-specific standardized test prep added. Very, very rarely we've seen a very minor difference in a problem or picture in a math text. It's never been an issue, and as PP's have said often these books are cheaper on the second-hand market. Even better are the teacher's editions ~ I've really had some substantial savings on those.