Kentucky Educators Adopt Tom Snyder Productions

New trend: Textbook Funding Used for Technology Materials

The Kentucky Department of Ed. has announced that computer software can now
be purchased with money allocated for basal textbooks. Beginning this
spring, school districts in the Bluegrass State can purchase software
programs in lieu of social studies text for elementary and intermediate
grades.

In December a state education committee listed 30 software titles to be
included in the state-wide adoption program. Twenty-five of the programs
are published by Tom Snyder Productions. While textbook funds can be used
to purchase any of the approved programs, only two series of programs,
also published by Tom Snyder Productions, can be purchased in lieu of
basal texts.

Tom Snyder Productions' critically acclaimed Choices, Choices series, with
two titles for the primary level, and its award-winning Decisions,
Decisions series, with 11 titles for the intermediate level, can now be
purchased for social studies classrooms instead of textbooks.

Kentucky is on the cutting edge of integrating technology into the
curriculum. "No other state has done this kind of adoption with social
studies materials," says Jena Howard, an instructional technology
consultant at the Kentucky Dept. of Education. "And the materials from Tom
Snyder Productions stood out among the nearly 100 programs reviewed for
the adoption as fitting our criteria."

The Electronic Instructional Materials Review Committee, a group of
curriculum specialists, classroom teachers and technology consultants who
set the adoption criteria, were impressed that the Decisions, Decisions
and Choices, Choices programs allow for open-ended responses and emphasize
cooperative learning. "Kentucky is putting a lot of emphasis on these
approaches to learning," said Jena Howard.

Education officials stress that any successful implementation of curriculum
materials requires appropriate staff development. Kentucky is planning
extensive staff development programs with the in-service trainers at TSP
for 1994.

This trailblazing decision by the state curriculum committee paves the way
for more formative, outcome-based learning with the use of Tom Snyder
Productions' technology-based materials.

Tom Snyder Productions
80 Coolidge Hill Rd
Watertown, MA 02172
800-342-0236

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