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Selecting Textbooks and Other Curriculum Support Materials for Christian Schools

Why Textbook Selection Is Important

The curriculum is at the core of any school’s mission; it’s what the school teaches. Once the school administration and faculty have organized the scope and sequence of the curriculum, the teachers will then devise tactics, or methods, by which to teach the curriculum to the students.

Some mistakenly think that the curriculum is just another word for textbooks. But more precisely, curriculum is the strategy, the content that the school wants the teacher to teach; the materials and methods that the teacher uses are tactics chosen as the most effective and efficient ways to teach the curriculum. The materials typically include textbooks and other physical objects (e.g., wall charts, workbooks, lab manuals) or electronic resources (e.g., web sites), often referred to as supplementary materials.

In most American classrooms, the textbooks are at the heart of the teaching methods, but they support the curriculum; they do not constitute it. The teacher makes the decisions about what material in the textbook to emphasize, what to de-emphasize, and what to skip completely. These decisions are guided by the scope and sequence of the curriculum that the administration and faculty have already determined.

A textbook that does not support that curriculum is thus counterproductive to the school’s goals. It will not only deviate from the content of the curriculum but will probably interfere with the students’ ability to learn the curriculum well. Those responsible for textbook selection must therefore choose carefully, considering a number of factors that help them assess a given textbook’s appropriateness for the task. For a typical Christian school, the following criteria will help those evaluating potential textbooks.

Selection Criteria

The materials should agree closely with the curriculum.

Scope and Sequence

Of course, the textbook should be in line with the existing scope and sequence. If the school is teaching Biology at tenth grade and the textbook is designed for ninth grade, that may or may not be a problem for the students. But if the sequence in which the elementary math skills are introduced leads to presentation of skills for which the students have not been properly prepared, only confusion and frustration will result.

In theory, buying a single publisher’s curriculum will yield a more unified scope and sequence. This does not always work out in practice, however, as some publishers allow market demands to override the cohesiveness of their overall scope and sequence. In any case, the school’s scope and sequence, not the publisher’s, should drive the purchasing decision. There is wisdom, however, in adopting a series at a time (e.g., elementary math, secondary English grammar) since the progress from grade to grade would likely be smoother.

Critical Thinking

If the school’s curriculum emphasizes critical thinking beyond simple memorization and recitation—and it should—then the materials should reinforce that emphasis. Controversies should be presented with a view to analysis and not just memorization of who said what. Study questions, quizzes, and tests should probe for more than factual recall.

Materials in all subjects should make use of charts, graphs, and other methods of presenting data visually to develop in students the ability to see trends and draw valid conclusions from the data. In a society that is moving increasing toward graphics and away from text, such skills will be increasingly important.

In science classes especially, the materials should support hands-on, active learning and laboratory experiences.

Philosophy and Worldview

If the textbook disagrees with, or even argues against, the philosophical underpinnings of the curriculum, it will be inefficient for the teacher and ineffective for the student.

The teacher will have to take class time to correct the inaccurate information, to counter the textbook’s arguments, and to supplement it with arguments for the school’s position. There are times, of course, where students should and will read opposing viewpoints in order to enhance their critical thinking and evaluative skills, to understand an opposing view, and to strengthen their ability to defend their own. But if the textbook is in general opposition to the curriculum, the battle is never ending, and an unnecessarily high percentage of the class time will be spent on correction rather than actual instruction.

An obvious example of this problem is the use of evolutionary textbooks in a science class; while it is certainly necessary for students to understand the evolutionary worldview accurately, the typical evolutionary book’s general underrepresentation and misrepresentation of biblical creationism will require considerable time and effort for the teacher to counter. A similar example is the discussion of sexual morality. All books will take a position on the morality of various types of sexual activity, even if their position is that the subject is not a question of morality. It is particularly important that adolescents be given appropriately comprehensive and accurate information about sexual issues, including STDs within a clear moral context.[1]

Insufficient agreement between the textbook and the curriculum is also ineffective for the student. Especially for younger students, whose critical thinking skills are not yet well developed, competing assertions from multiple authority figures are unnecessarily confusing and even morally unhealthy. To the young student, a textbook is as authoritative as a teacher or even a parent, and such authority figures should be in general agreement about at least the core values with which the parents and the school are trying to imbue him. Even older students, who can be expected to exercise critical thinking more adeptly, struggle unnecessarily when the basic thesis of the textbook contradicts the basic thesis of their parents or teachers. Those who do not face that struggle still face inefficiencies by having to deal with more sources of information as they study for tests and other assessments.

The materials should present the relevant curricular content completely and accurately.

Comprehensiveness

It is obviously more efficient, and usually less expensive, to work with one textbook than with many. Both teacher and student benefit when the textbook covers all that the curriculum demands.

Accuracy

Factual

Accuracy is obviously necessary, but it’s more complicated than it may appear at first. Of course the school should expect the textbooks to get the basic facts right; every few months we hear of more examples of egregious historical or scientific errors in major textbooks, and those are of course unacceptable. If the teacher cannot trust the assertions of a U.S. history book, or the answer in a math teacher’s edition, he will be frustrated unnecessarily.

Philosophical

But beyond the simple facts, the textbook should represent all parties on controversies accurately. It should state their positions as the proponents themselves would state them, and it should avoid ridicule, caricature, or oversimplification. In particular, because the Bible teaches that all humans are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27) and that they continue to bear this image even as unrepentant sinners (Gen. 9:6; James 3:9), materials should present ethnic and cultural differences respectfully and even appreciatively, of course within biblical limits. (e.g., polygamy can and should be addressed as falling short of God’s ideal for marriage [Matt. 19:3–9; 1 Tim. 3:2].) Similarly, women should be spoken of respectfully, in accordance with Ephesians 5:25–33, whether the school’s position is complementarian or egalitarian. The disabled should be described respectfully and compassionately, in accordance with a biblical view of providence and the love of God for His image.

Timeliness

In subject areas that are rapidly changing, such as science and history, the materials should be reasonably up to date. A U.S. history book that ends with Nixon, or even with Clinton, is not going to prepare the students to interact with the key issues of their day. Evaluators should note that the copyright date of the book is not necessarily evidence that the book is current; many publishers change the graphics on the cover and then assign a new copyright date, hoping that the adopters will not notice that the actual content has not changed. And the blame for this phenomenon goes deeper than the publishers’ profit motive:

Educators have fallen into the trap of equating new books with better books, [of] mistaking style for substance. And faced with a market that puts a premium on newness, artwork, and copyright date, the textbook industry seems to have been forced into a hectic textbook revision cycle in which improvement in instructional quality takes a poor second place to more superficial changes.[2]

If the school is committed to instructing students in the use of technology, the textbook should incorporate technology instruction as appropriate. (For example, math books beyond a certain grade level could incorporate calculator exercises at increasing levels of complexity.) Of course, teachers can incorporate technology use into the course’s assignment structure, but to the degree that the textbook can provide ideas for such assignments, the teacher can give her attention to other matters.

 

The materials should be appropriate for the age level.

The content of the material should be at a reading level, difficulty level, and maturity level appropriate for the students. Older students, of course, will deal with more mature and complex content than younger students.[3]

The materials should present the content in a way that is interesting and engaging, even creative as appropriate. As much as lieth in them, students should enjoy reading the book.

The materials should provide exercises across a range of ability levels so that assignments can be better tailored to individual student needs. This is particularly important in math, but it is useful in all subjects.

The materials should have a demonstrated track record of success.

Ideally, the textbook should carry the recommendation of other educators that you know and trust. It should be used in schools that demonstrate quality instruction and that graduate well-educated, godly students.[4]

In the case of new texts, obviously, it is not as simple as just looking for other users; there may not yet be any other users of that edition, or at least any that the evaluator knows and trusts. If he wants his materials to be current, as an earlier criterion recommends, he’s going to have to recognize other indicators of quality. If the textbook is simply a later edition of an existing text, then he can evaluate the track record of the earlier editions and the changes in the newer edition. If it’s a completely new text, he can at least examine the publisher’s track record, especially in the academic discipline of the new text.[5]

The materials should be of high quality.

This criterion has to do especially with physical quality. Educational quality, of course, is indicated by the track record discussed in the previous criterion.

There are a number of elements to physical quality:

•    Substantial, durable binding, whether the cover is soft or hard

•    Substantial paper, that will not easily tear and through which the ink does not bleed

•    Engaging page layout, with enough white space to make the page attractive

•    A readable typeface and point size

•    High-quality photographs, well composed, of sufficient resolution, with good registration (not blurry due to imprecision in the printing process)

•    Appropriate use of color for the age level

•    Appropriate breadth of supplementary materials, which can both save the teacher time and improve the educational experience for the student[6]

•    Reasonable cost

The Selection Process

Timing

The school administration should determine how frequently materials should be evaluated. Many schools set up a regular evaluation schedule, perhaps evaluating one elementary grade and one secondary grade per year, for a 6-year cycle, or one subject area per year, for a 6- to 8-year cycle.[7] Having a regular schedule makes the process more predictable and often evens out the work load among the evaluators.

 

Many schools find it helpful to request evaluation copies early in the fall and to do most of the evaluating during middle of the school year, including Christmas break. Evaluators can follow up with publishers, asking further questions for clarification in the spring, in time for ordering during the summer for the following year.

Materials

The administrator or his designated representative can collect evaluation copies of textbooks as the schedule warrants. Those books can then be distributed to the evaluators. Some publishers prefer not to provide multiple evaluation copies; in those cases, the evaluators can just cycle the different textbooks among themselves.

Personnel

Most schools find it helpful to have multiple evaluators involved in the selection process. Since pure democracy is highly inefficient, someone needs to be in charge and responsible for the final decision. But the process should include input from many people, ideally including administrators, experienced faculty, and parents. It wouldn’t be unheard of to solicit student input as well. The committee may wish to notify all the parents what books are being evaluated during the current year and solicit feedback regarding their children’s experiences with the current selection.

Procedure

The administration should encourage the evaluators to take the time to work through the evaluation process carefully. It could do this by lowering faculty workloads for evaluators or perhaps by paying evaluators extra for their important contribution to the school’s mission.[8]

The evaluators should agree on a list of criteria on which to evaluate the textbooks. (The school might help the process along by providing rubrics to help standardize the process.) They should then narrow the field to 2 or 3 of the best texts and clearly delineate the strengths and weaknesses of each. Ideally, the committee should come to unanimous agreement on the best selection based on those strengths and weaknesses. It is particularly important that the classroom teacher, who will be primarily responsible for using the text, be in agreement with the decision.

Conclusion

Delivering a focused, cohesive, polished education package to the student does not happen by accident.

The textbooks are the student’s most intimate and extensive connection to the curriculum. If the school wishes to reach its goal, it must ensure that its textbooks are of the best quality and consistently reinforce the worldview of the parents and school administration. The time and effort required to do a careful job are well worth it.

by Dr. Dan Olinger

 

[1] Of course, this is easier when the parents and the school are in agreement on these questions.

[2] Arthur Woodward and Kathleen Carter Nagel, “Old Wine in New Bottles: An Analysis of Changes in Elementary Social Studies Textbooks from Old to New Edition,” Book Research Quarterly 3 (Winter 1987-88), 22.

[3] For useful guidance on the question of objectionable content, see “Objectionable Elements,” chapter 4 in Ronald A. Horton, ed., Christian Education: Its Mandate and Mission (Greenville: BJU Press, 1992).

[4] Some publishers conduct field testing on their materials during the production phase to demonstrate the books’ effectiveness. While such studies could be valid, it’s typically difficult for the evaluator to know how thorough and careful the field testing was. Actual purchasers and users of the materials, especially those in schools similar to the evaluator’s, are the best recommenders.

[5] One thing to keep in mind for extremely new texts is that the supplementary materials may not yet be available from the publisher.

[6] Many teachers prefer to have the publisher provide tests for use with the textbook. This is certainly helpful for new teachers or for experienced teachers using a new textbook. But publishers’ tests have at least two disadvantages: 1) they do not assess knowledge of any curricular material not in the textbook, and 2) they effectively encourage teachers to teach to the test. Assessment should be more thorough than this, and it should evaluate the instruction, not drive it.

[7] As noted above, timely revision is more important in some subjects than in others. Also noted above, adopting a subject at a time, rather than a grade at a time, can give more cohesiveness to the scope and sequence.

[8] Interestingly, in California’s statewide public school textbook adoption process, evaluators are not paid. California and Texas are the two most significant textbook adoption systems, due to the size of their student populations. Susan Watts-Taffe, “Textbook Selection and Respect for Diversity in the United States,” paper presented at the World Bank Seminar on Education, Social Cohesion, and Diversity, Washington, DC, June 9, 2005, 5. Watts-Taffe recommends paying the evaluators.

Filed Under:
Category: Textbooks

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- violate any applicable federal or local laws in your jurisdiction (including but not limited to intellectual property laws or tax laws);

 

- use the Service for any illegal or unauthorized purpose;

 

- impersonate any person or entity, including without limitation, a BJU Press employee or Teacher Tools Online® user, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;

 

- transmit email or any other content that includes personal or identifying information about another person without that person’s explicit consent;

 

- transmit email or any other content that is false, deceptive, misleading, deceitful, or constitutes “bait and switch”;

 

- offer stolen goods and/or materials that infringe a patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of another person, or entity or that violate any rights of privacy or publicity, or that defame or libel any person or entity, or offer content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (including without limitation any goods purchased or obtained by you without right of resale such as promotional materials or school market-restricted materials);

 

- include hyperlinks, on Teacher Tools Online®, to the website of any other platform or service offering or facilitating the sale of teaching materials or other educational products.

 

- advertise any illegal products or services or the sale of any items the sale of which is prohibited or restricted by applicable law, including without limitation items the sale of which is prohibited or regulated by applicable law;

 

- provide materials or any other content for download that contain viruses or any other code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;

 

- disrupt the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Service, or in any manner that otherwise negatively affects Members’ and visitors’ ability to use the Service;

 

- employ misleading email or IP addresses, or forged headers, or otherwise manipulated identifiers in order to disguise the origin of content transmitted through the Service;

 

- attempt to gain unauthorized access to Teacher Tools Online®’s computer systems or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of, the Service;

 

- attempt to regain access to Teacher Tools Online® following a ban or account termination, including without limitation by means of opening or attempting to open a new account under the same or different Username;

 

- “stalk” or otherwise harass anyone on or through the Service;

 

- collect any personally identifying data about Members or visitors for commercial or unlawful purposes; or

 

- use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from the Service-except for internet search engines (e.g., Google or Yahoo!) and non-commercial public archives (e.g., archive.org) that comply with our robots.txt file, or that are “well-behaved” web services/RSS/Atom clients. We reserve the right to define what we mean by “well-behaved,” and to develop, invoke, or utilize any means to disrupt, diminish the quality of, interfere with the performance of, or impair the functionality of any automated means you may use to access the Service.

4. User Behavior:

You are fully responsible for your behavior on Teacher Tools Online®, which includes the way that you utilize any aspect of the Teacher Tools Online® service.

1. You are completely and solely responsible for the content you post on Teacher Tools Online®, which includes, but is not limited to, photos, messages, chat, personal profiles, community posts, broadcasts, blogs, events, audio and video clips. Unauthorized or illegal content includes, but is not limited to:

(a) the display of sexually explicit material

(b) the display of abusive, harmful, racially or religiously offensive or bigoted, obscene, or libelous material.

(c) the use of flaming or trolling

(d) the display of material that encourages criminal behavior that violates any local, state, national, or international law or regulation.

(e) the use of the Service for unauthorized advertising, which includes MLM/pyramid schemes, spam, chain letters, sweepstakes or contests.

(f) the transmission of viruses, worms, or Trojan horses to destroy or limit any functionality of the software or hardware of Teacher Tools Online® and its users.

(g) the display of information about another person without their express consent, or the posting of any copyrighted material that you do not have legal authorization to use.

BJU Press has the right, in its sole discretion, to determine whether content is unauthorized, offensive, harmful, illegal, or in violation of the rights of others.

2. You agree and understand that BJU Press can delete any content that is offensive, illegal, harmful, or in violation of the rights of other.

3. You understand and agree that you can only use Teacher Tools Online® for academic use. You cannot use Teacher Tools Online® for any commercial or business purposes.

4. Any member who demonstrably harasses or abuses another member will be removed from Teacher Tools Online®.

5. Other unauthorized or illegal behaviors include, but are not limited to:

(a) the display of false information about yourself or anyone else

(b) changing, in any manner at all, or reverse engineering any aspect of Teacher Tools Online®. You may not attempt to derive source code from the Teacher Tools Online® service.

(c) the use of any search/retrieval application (e.g., robot, spider) to index any aspect of Teacher Tools Online®

(d) the posting of information that implicitly or explicitly implies that it is endorsed by Teacher Tools Online®

 

5. Inappropriate User-Submitted Content.

 

Teacher Tools Online® prohibits certain user conduct and content described above and, without obligation, will use reasonable efforts to eliminate such conduct and content from the Service. Nevertheless, you acknowledge and agree that (i) Teacher Tools Online® is not and cannot be responsible for any content, information, or materials posted by users on the Service, (ii) you may be exposed to any such materials, information, or content, and (iii) you must bear all risks associated with the exposure to and/or use of any such materials, information, or content, including without limitation any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such materials, information, or content. Without limitation of the foregoing, Teacher Tools Online® has the right to, but may or may not, pre-screen and/or monitor content posted on the Service, and without limiting any remedies, may remove, edit, move, or close, in whole or in part, any content, information or materials, or thread or posting in any chat room and/or similar feature on the Service, at any time for any reason, in Teacher Tools Online®’s sole discretion.

 

6. Links to Other Sites and Resources.

 

The Service contains links to other websites or resources. Teacher Tools Online® has no control over such external sites and resources. You agree that (i) Teacher Tools Online® is not responsible for the availability or accuracy of such external sites and resources, and (ii) Teacher Tools Online® does not endorse nor is it responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, services or materials on or available from such external sites and resources. Any reliance on the contents or services of such an external website or resource is done at your own risk and you assume all responsibilities and consequences resulting from such reliance.

 

7. Copyright Infringement:

BJU Press respects copyright and other laws. BJU Press requires all users to comply with copyright and other laws.

BJU Press does not provide you with file-sharing ability so that you can violate the copyright of third parties.

As a member of Teacher Tools Online®, you agree that you must not use Teacher Tools Online® to infringe the intellectual property of others in any way. The unauthorized reproduction, distribution, modification, or posting of copyrighted work is a violation of copyright law.

You are responsible for your behavior on Teacher Tools Online® and for making sure that it does not violate any copyright laws. If you violate copyright laws, then you may be exposed to civil and criminal liability, including possible fines and jail time.

We respect the intellectual property rights of others, and we ask that our Members and users do the same. It is our policy to disable access to or remove material that we believe in good faith to be infringing on a copyrighted work. We also disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who we believe in good faith are repeatedly infringing copyrighted works. Our Copyright Policy has been developed in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and other applicable laws. By accepting these Terms of Service, you agree to be bound by our Copyright Policy, which is by this reference expressly incorporated into this Agreement.

 

8. Privacy Policy

 

We take the privacy of our users’ and Members’ information very seriously. Our Privacy Policy is available at www.TeacherToolsOnline.com/Privacy-Policy. By accepting these Terms of Service, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy, which is by this reference expressly incorporated into this Agreement.

 

9. Indemnity

 

By accepting this Agreement, you agree, at your expense, to indemnify, defend, and hold BJU PRESS and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, employees, partners, and licensors harmless from and against any and all loss, cost, damages, claims, demands, liabilities, expenses, or tax assessments, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of any claim made by any third party or any action taken by any governmental or regulatory body (including, without limitation, the Federal Trade Commission or any state attorney general), due to, arising out of, or relating to actions or allegations of infringement based on information, data or content you submitted in connection with the service, (i) any fraud or manipulation, or other breach of this agreement by you, or (ii) third party claims, actions or allegations brought against BJU Press arising out of your use of the service or software, (iii) any product, content, information, or materials that you submit, purchase, post, transmit, provide, or otherwise make available through the Service, (iv) your use of the Service, (v) your connection to the Service, (vi) your actual or alleged breach of this Agreement (including our Copyright Policy and Privacy Policy), (vii) your actual or alleged infringement of any third party intellectual property or proprietary rights, or (viii) your actual or alleged violation of any applicable laws, rules, regulations, or rights of another.

 

 

10. Warranty Disclaimers

 

YOU AGREE THAT THE SITE AND THE SERVICE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, AND THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE PROVIDED BY BJU PRESS SHALL BE AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, BJU PRESS, ITS AFFILIATES, AND ITS AND THEIR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICE, AND YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE THEREOF, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. BJU PRESS MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE CREDIBILITY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SERVICE; THAT MEMBERS WILL PERFORM AS PROMISED; ABOUT THE TRUTHFULNESS, ACCURACY, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE SERVICE’S CONTENT OR THE CONTENT OF ANY SITES LINKED TO THIS SERVICE; ABOUT THE AVAILABILITY, QUALITY, CHARACTERISTICS, LEGITIMACY, FUNCTIONALITY, PRICING, SHIPPING, DELIVERY, SECURITY, OR SAFETY OF ANY PRODUCTS OR CONTENT LISTED FOR SALE ON THIS SERVICE; OR ABOUT ANY PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS OR PRODUCT LITERATURE. BJU PRESS ALSO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE SERVICE OR ANY PRODUCTS LISTED FOR SALE ON THE SERVICE ARE FIT FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR WILL MEET ANY USER’S REQUIREMENTS, AND ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY (I) ERRORS, MISTAKES, OR INACCURACIES OF CONTENT, (II) PERSONAL INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE, OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER, RESULTING FROM YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICE, (III) ANY UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF OUR SECURE SERVERS AND/OR ANY AND ALL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND/OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION STORED THEREIN, (IV) ANY INTERRUPTION OR CESSATION OF TRANSMISSION TO OR FROM THE SERVICE, (IV) ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE, WHICH MAY BE TRANSMITTED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICE BY ANY THIRD PARTY, AND/OR (V) ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN ANY CONTENT, OR FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS A RESULT OF THE USE OF ANY PRODUCT OR CONTENT POSTED, EMAILED, TRANSMITTED, SOLD, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE VIA THE SERVICE. BJU PRESS DOES NOT WARRANT, ENDORSE, GUARANTEE, OR ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE ADVERTISED OR OFFERED BY A THIRD PARTY THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE, OR FEATURED IN ANY BANNER OR OTHER ADVERTISING, AND BJU PRESS WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHERE APPROPRIATE. ADDITIONALLY, BJU PRESS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS THAT RESULT FROM MEMBERS DIRECTLY CONTACTING OTHER MEMBERS OR FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS RESULTING FROM TRANSACTIONS CONDUCTED OUTSIDE OF THE SERVICE, INCLUDING TRANSACTIONS THAT MAY ORIGINATE THROUGH THE SERVICE BUT ARE TAKEN OFFLINE OR OUTSIDE OF THE SERVICE. BJU PRESS AND ITS AFFILIATES, PARTNERS, AND CONSULTANTS DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE CONTENT, COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, LEGALITY, RELIABILITY, OR AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION OR MATERIALS DISPLAYED ON TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE®. YOU AGREE THAT THE USE OF THE SERVICE AND ANYTHING THING THAT YOU DOWNLOAD FROM TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK, DISCRETION, AND RESPONSIBILITY. YOU WILL BE WHOLLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE OR THE DOWNLOADING OF INFORMATION. TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY FOR THE CONDUCT OF ANY MEMBER. TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® WILL NOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY INTERACTIONS YOU HAVE WITH OTHER INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH THE LMS. YOU AGREE THAT BJU PRESS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS THAT OCCURS AS A RESULT OF SUCH INTERACTIONS AND THAT BJU PRESS _ HAS NO OBLIGATION TO BECOME INVOLVED IN ANY SUCH DISPUTES; FURTHER, YOU RELEASE BJU PRESS FROM DAMAGES OF ANY KIND THAT ARISE FROM SUCH DISPUTES. TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® OFFERS ALL OF ITS SERVICE ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITH NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER. TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF PROPRIETARY RIGHTS.

 

 

11. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT, SITUATION, OR CIRCUMSTANCE WILL BJU PRESS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OR RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE®, WHETHER OR NOT BJU PRESS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FROM UPLOADED OR DOWNLOADED THIRD PARTY CONTENT, AND DAMAGES FROM THE INTERRUPTION OR TERMINATION OF THE TEACHER TOOLS ONLINE® SERVICES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF EXCLUSION OF LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO EVENT, SITUATION, OR CIRCUMSTANCE WILL BJU PRESS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR AN AMOUNT EXCEEDING FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00).

YOU AGREE THAT BJU PRESS, ITS AFFILIATES, AND ITS AND THEIR OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND/OR AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, REPUTATION, USE, OR DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM: (I) THE ACCESS TO, USE, OR THE INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE; (II) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION, OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO, THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE; (III) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (IV) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; OR (V) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE. SOME STATES OR OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. BJU PRESS’ LIABILITY TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY SHALL IN NO EVENT BE, IN THE AGGREGATE, GREATER THAN THE LESSER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO BJU PRESS DURING THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRIOR TO THE CLAIM OR ACTION ALLEGEDLY GIVING RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($500.00).

 

YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BY ACCESSING AND USING THE SERVICE AND AGREEING TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU MAY BE WAIVING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO CLAIMS THAT ARE AT THIS TIME UNKNOWN OR UNSUSPECTED. IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD, AND HEREBY EXPRESSLY WAIVE, THE SECTION 1542 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF CALIFORNIA, WHICH PROVIDES AS FOLLOWS: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH IF KNOWN BY HIM MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.” FURTHERMORE, IF YOU ARE A RESIDENT OF ANOTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE IN ADVANCE ANY SIMILAR LAWS OF SUCH OTHER STATE OR JURISDICTION.

 

12. Termination

 

BJU Press can refuse membership to anyone at its sole discretion. In addition, Teacher Tools Online® can terminate the membership and delete any related information of any member at any time for any reason. If BJU Press terminates your membership, then you can no longer use the Teacher Tools Online® service or the services of any of its affiliates.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate, or take any other action or remedy that we deem reasonable, appropriate, or necessary, in our sole discretion, with respect to your Member Account immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason. If we terminate your account, your right to use the Service will immediately cease. You may terminate your Member Account at any time and for any reason, and we will make available through the Service reasonable means for you to do so. When these terms come to an end, those terms that by their nature are intended to continue indefinitely will continue to apply, including but not limited to, ownership provisions, licenses, warranty disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability.

 

13. Miscellaneous Provisions

 

- Ownership of Site. This site, the Service, and all text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, photographs, trademarks, logos, sounds, music, artwork, content, and computer code therein (collectively, the “Teacher Tools Online® Content”), including without limitation the design, structure, selection, coordination, expression, “look and feel,” and arrangement of such Content is owned, controlled, or licensed by or to Teacher Tools Online®, and is protected by trade dress, trade secret, copyright, patent, and trademark laws, and various other intellectual property rights.

 

Except as expressly provided in this Agreement or otherwise permitted by law, no Teacher Tools Online® Content may be used, copied, reproduced, modified, republished, disassembled, reverse engineered, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, publicly performed, publicly performed by means of a digital audio transmission, encoded, translated, transmitted, or distributed in any way to any other person, computer, server, website, or in any other medium for any purpose, without Teacher Tools Online®’s express prior written consent.

 

- Entire Agreement. The Terms of Service, including Teacher Tools Online®’s Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference above, constitute the entire agreement between you and Teacher Tools Online® and governs your use of the Service.

 

- No Agency. Teacher Tools Online® is not the agent or representative of any site users, nor does it operate under their authority for any purpose.

- Governing and Applicable Law. This Terms of Service Agreement is governed in all respects by the laws of the State of South Carolina, USA without regard to its conflict of law provisions. In the event of any dispute related to this Agreement, the parties will attempt resolution pursuant to biblical principles utilizing negotiation and mediation. If this is unsuccessful for any reason, disputes arising hereunder shall be submitted to state or federal courts in Greenville, South Carolina, and you agree to and consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts. The Service is operated by BJU Education Group, Inc. from its offices in South Carolina, in the United States of America. BJU PRESS makes no representation that materials or content on the Service are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access the Service from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. Software from this site is further subject to United States export controls. No software from www.TeacherToolsOnline.com may be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria or any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods; (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department’s Table of Deny Orders; or (iii) in any other manner that violates U.S. law. By downloading or using any software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.

 

- Dispute Resolution_: Any dispute arising out of or relating to these terms or the Service shall be submitted exclusively to confidential binding arbitration in Greenville, SC, except that to the extent you have in any manner violated or threatened to violate BJU PRESS’s intellectual property rights, we may seek injunctive or other appropriate relief in any state or federal court in the State of South Carolina. You hereby consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens with respect to venue and jurisdiction in the state and federal courts of South Carolina. Arbitration under these Terms of Use shall be conducted pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules then prevailing at the American Arbitration Association. The arbitrator's award shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, no arbitration under this Agreement shall be joined to an arbitration involving any other party subject to this Agreement, whether through class action proceedings or otherwise. If a suit, action, arbitration or other proceeding of any nature whatsoever is instituted in connection with any dispute or controversy arising out of or related to the subject matter of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover from the non-prevailing party, in addition to any other available remedy, all reasonable costs, including without limitation court costs, attorneys’ fees, and other expenses incurred in such proceeding.

 

- Waiver and Severability. The failure of BJU PRESS to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Service shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of this Terms of Service shall be held unlawful, void, or unenforceable for any reason, then that provision shall be deemed severed from this Terms of Service and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions. The severed provision shall be deemed modified so that its purpose can be lawfully effectuated and enforced.

 

- Notices. Teacher Tools Online® may provide you with notices, including, without limitation, those regarding changes to the Terms of Service, product updates, teacher conferences, and other service-related announcements, by email or postings on the Service.

 

- BJU PRESS may change or amend these Terms. If we make material changes, we will notify you, either through the user interface, in an email notification, or through other reasonable means. Your use of the Service after the date such change(s) become effective will constitute consent to the changed terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must immediately stop using the Service. Otherwise the new terms will apply to you.

 

- Future Changes in the Service. BJU Press reserves the right at any time (and from time to time) to modify, suspend, or discontinue providing the Service or any part thereof with or without notice. BJU Press will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the Service.

 

- Assignment. BJU Press may assign this agreement to any successor or purchaser of BJU PRESS or all or substantially all of its assets.

 

- Headings. Section titles and headings in this Agreement are for convenience only, and have no legal or contractual effect.

 

- Trademarks. BJU Press, the BJU Press logo, Teacher Tools Online®, Shop Talk, and other BJU Press logos and names are trademarks of BJU Education Group, Inc. You agree not to display or use these trademarks in any manner without prior, written consent of BJU Education Group, Inc.

 

- If any aspect of this agreement is deemed invalid, then the remaining provisions shall still be enforced.

You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or any of your rights or obligations hereunder, and any attempt to the contrary is void.

BJU Press is not responsible for any delay or failure in performance resulting directly or indirectly from causes beyond BJU Press's reasonable control.

Any correspondence about this Agreement will be sent to you via the email that you provided during registration.

14. International Use:

If you are not a resident of the United States of America, then you agree to follow all applicable laws and local rules regarding the transmission of data from the United States or the country in which you live.

We hope that you enjoy your use of Teacher Tools Online®. These Terms of Service are necessary and allow us to offer this Service to you – our valued user. Official correspondence must be sent through postal mail to:

BJU Press Customer Service
1700 Wade Hampton, Blvd.
Greenville, SC 29614

This Terms of Service represents the complete, entire, and exclusive understanding and agreement between you and Teacher Tools Online®. It supersedes all prior, written or oral, understandings or agreements. You understand and agree that you have read these Terms of Service and that amendments can be posted to this Terms of Service. You agree and understand that your continued use of the Service represents your consent to such amended terms.