Zesty Louisiana Education Politics
Eureka Math. . . (I can think of another expletive to describe it.)
Posted on September 28, 2014
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This is an update to a story I’ve been meaning to get back to for a while on Louisiana’s textbook selection and adoption process. According to my sources Louisiana required most vendors to pay 500 dollars per book to evaluate each grade level of each subject. I have no details of where those dollars went. I was told this was the first year the department ever charged to review books. I was also told the only two first tier (best according to LDOE) vendors that were selected (Eureka for Math and Core Knowledge for ELA) did not have to pay this fee, but I have not been able to confirm this. I received some information from sources that were able to acquire the lists of all external reviewers of textbooks. I have been able to contact some of these folks to confirm this, and have confirmed their participation through some of their own online postings. I will not be turning over all of the research files as yet, but I will be publishing the names of the Math reviewers. There were only 7 reviewers for the Math curriculum selected for the entire state (15 reviewers were used for the ELA evaluation.) I have tried interviewing and questioning these folks either on or off the record, but none have agreed to comment on the selection process – even after replying to me initially. I would like to know how they were compensated, whether their instructions involved assessing the quality of the materials (which is particularly lacking with the first tier Eureka materials) among other things.
Louisiana Textbook Reviewers by Review Area
| Review Area | Fname | Lname |
| Math K-5 | Brittany | Bush (K-5) |
| Math K-5 | Katie | Dunn (K-5) |
| Math K-5 | Laci | Maniscalco (K-5) |
| Math K-5 | Kristina | Morris (K-5) |
| Math 6-8, 9-12 | Aquanetta | Archangel |
| Math 6-8, 9-12 | Tamara | Whittington |
| Math 6-8, 9-12 | Jessica | Hunter |
My earlier story can be found here: http://crazycrawfish.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/louisianas-texbook-selection-shenanigans/
It appears John White, Superintendent of Education, has links to the only two tier one options selected, including one which is run by his former employers, Joel Klein, now the head of Amplify – a Rupert Murdoch (NewsCorp) subsidiary and sole provider of Core Knowledge published products. If this situation sounds familiar, you aren’t wrong. Jindal’s former head of the Department of Health and Hospitals, Bruce Greenstein, was just indicted on numerous counts of perjury related to tampering with the theoretically unbiased selection process or a 200+ million dollar Medicaid contract with Bruce Greenstein’s former employer, CNSI. I wonder if there is not some unsavory influences at work here as well. I really find it hard to believe Eureka is far and away the best Math product on the market and I’ve had firsthand experience with them and a tier 2 product that while not awesome, is much better than Eureka in my opinion (and my daughter throws fewer tantrums with this new one so I think she’s having an easier time of it too.)
I was provided this preliminary research by my source although you can find much more in LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, school websites, Stand For Children materials, LDOE’s website (lauding the choices with quotes without mentioning they were part of the selection committee), Facebook, etc.
| General Information | ||
| bbush@ebrshools.org 225-343-9364 | 5th grade teacher Capitol Elemhttp://edenpark.ebrschools.org/explore.cfm/facultystaff/brittanybush | |
| charter school teacher New Beginnings Charter New Orleans | https://www.linkedin.com/pub/katie-dunn/24/1a8/31b | |
| lacimaniscalco@yahoo.com Broadmoor Elem 3rd gr | Received $$ stipend and from publisher “LearnZillion” Curr:http://learnzillion.com/dreamteam went to SF, CA | http://gettingsmart.com/2012/03/learnzillion-one-of-the-scrappy-startups-making-dc-a-hotspot/ |
| https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kristina-morris/4b/965/3b0 | been teaching for 2 years and 3 months | |
| Naturallynette11@gmail.com “GOOGLE” Nette Archangel | I.A. Lewis School in Ruston LA, graduate of LA Tech teaching maybe 5 years http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfDPHSzh1y4 | |
| tamara.whittington@tangischools.org | Hammond Jr HS Magnet | |
| no info | Sterlington HS, Ouchita Schools | |
| James Ward Elem in Jennings LA |
I think my inquiries were pretty non-threatening although I am a stranger. . .
I was given a list of all the folks who reviewed the various textbooks last year andEureka Math. . . (I can think of another expletive to describe it.) | Crazy Crawfish's Blog: