23 SELLERS COMPETE TO SUPPLY TEXTBOOKS : SCHOOL MATERIALS GET HIGH-TECH TWIST.

Byline: Jan Ferris Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

It's textbook adoption time in California, but the reading and writing tools under the state Board of Education's review today don't look a thing like their predecessors.

Most language arts programs are available in both English and Spanish. Others come with Chinese, Hmong and Vietnamese translations.

And Dick and Jane have gone high-tech. Materials that once took the form of a single textbook or primer have swollen into bulky packages of related videos, audio cassettes, software and CD-ROMs.

``It's absolutely mind-boggling,'' said Tom Vasta of the Sacramento County Office of Education, which put the 23 competing programs, consisting of 10,000 pieces, on public display.

It has been eight years since state educators last undertook full-scale selection of materials for reading, language arts and English as a second language.

There's a lot riding on the process, being watched closely nationwide. As state officials lead schools deeper into cyberspace, they are working with an increasingly diverse student body and undertaking the hefty task of improving how students learn to read and write.

The final adoption may not come until December. Whatever choices the board makes will determine what students from kindergarten through eighth grade will use for several years into the 21st century.

``That's why we're going to have to be vigilant,'' said board member Kathryn Dronenburg. ``We want to do the right thing by kids.''

There are more materials and criteria than ever to consider. At the Sacramento County Office of Education off Bradshaw Road, the entire collection is laid out in six mammoth bookcases.

It took 115 teachers, college professors and specialists a solid week last spring just to learn how to evaluate the books and backup materials.

After studying the materials in committee meetings, the group then met to decide which of the 23 programs to recommend to the state board. Eighteen programs made the cut, though the nine-member board will have the final say on which programs to accept or reject.

There is more money than usual at stake. This year, legislators set aside $152 million so that each primary-grade student will have a full set incorporating spelling, phonics and other basic literacy materials. Add to that more than $13 million for related teacher training with the new materials.

The money more than doubles what many California districts usually spend on instructional materials.

Educators describe the textbook adoption as one of several parts of a new, sweeping initiative to improve student learning. Class-size reduction is the largest reform, launched with $771 million in July.