08/18/11 PRESS RELEASE: Greenwich High School Creates One-of-a-Kind Textbook to Match its Unique Science Course

When ninth-graders enter their classrooms at Greenwich High School in a few weeks, they’ll be learning from a new, one-of-a-kind textbook created specifically for the district’s unique method for teaching science.

Greenwich High School offers its ninth-graders an “Integrated Science” course that combines chemistry, biology and physics rather than teaching each subject separately. This distinctive approach left Greenwich’s District Science Coordinator Sheila Civale searching for a textbook that corresponded with the course. But, she kept coming up empty handed—until the district turned to the learning company Pearson to turn their vision into reality.

“Because of the inquiry-based, rigorous nature of our Integrated Science course, there wasn’t a textbook that existed that truly could serve as a resource for our students. Yet, we knew that such a book would help our ninth-graders improve their critical thinking skills and their understanding of the material on the state test and in their future educational endeavors,” says Civale.

Civale, a devoted team of Greenwich teachers, and University of Connecticut professor Dr. David M. Moss, worked with Pearson to develop an original, customized book and corresponding digital text for the science course. Pulling from Pearson’s extensive library, the book weaves together higher education statistics and chemistry material along with high school science content.

“This is not your traditional textbook,” says Civale. “We literally put this book together page-by-page to reflect our state standards, ensuring our students have all of the right material to meet state-level expectations. And, at the same time, we focus on the concepts that our students will enjoy learning about—making each page of this text relevant to their lives.”

Civale added that the district surveyed students about their interests and used the results to develop the course and text, which centers around four real-world themes: survival, sports and human performance, space, and sustainability.

“We want students to react favorably to the text, using it as a reference to help them master the concepts and identify with real-life scenarios in science that engage them and take them beyond just the book,” says Civale.

“Greenwich Public Schools are changing the way science is taught, preparing their learners for success in college and in the fast-paced, global careers of tomorrow. The district’s leadership was a hands-on partner throughout the process as we worked to create a resource that would meet the district’s unique needs and set each student on the path to success,” says Don Kilburn, CEO of Pearson Learning Solutions.

This school year, “Integrated Science” will enter classrooms as a paperback and digital text. Next summer, Greenwich will work with Pearson to modify the content, if needed, based on teacher and student feedback.

Learn more about Greenwich Public Schools at http://www.greenwichschools.org/. For more information about Pearson’s custom publishing programs, visit http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/school.

About Pearson

Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, has global reach and market-leading businesses in education, business information and consumer publishing (NYSE: PSO).

Media contacts:

Stacy Skelly, stacy.skelly@pearson.com
(800) 745-8489

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