ESOL Textbook Pilot Evaluation:
ESOL 150: Level 5 Reading
Fill out this form after piloting the text under consideration and present to the SAC.
Part 1. Check “Yes” if the text satisfactorily covers the following objectives. If coverage was missing or
inadequate, check “No” and explain.
Book Title:
New Password 4: A Reading and
Vocabulary Text
Instructor(s):
Sandra Banke
Yes No
x
Identify topics, main ideas and supporting details
Comments: There is a little of this in each chapter, but the build up is slow.
x Identify organizational types and author’s purpose.
Comments: There is some, but not explicitly until Chapter 8 (we only got through Chapter 5 [out of 20!]). I had to supplement.
x Correlating reading from multiple sources
Comments: None.
x Identifying rhetorical styles, features and devices
Comments: Not in the chapters we were able to cover. There was some of this in The Yearling (our novel), plus I supplemented.
x Interpreting maps, graphs, tables, and figures
Comments: None. Not at all like Well Read, another series I’ve used.
x
Making inferences, predictions, and connections
Comments: Not so much with inferences in the chapters we covered; very short exercise in Chapter 10. Predictions I included in my own
supplementary materials on pre-reading. Students could make connections to their own lives with the discussion questions at the end of
each chapter, as well as writing suggestions (which we didn’t have time for.)
x
Relating reading to personal experiences
Comments: Yes, with pre-reading questions at the beginning of each chapter, + discussion questions, etc. that I mentioned above.
x
Previewing, skimming, and scanning
Comments: A short exercise in Chapter 2; I supplemented this *a lot*, still using the passages in the book. Chapter 9 had some
exercises, but we didn’t get that far.
x
Timed reading
Comments: None.
x
Vocabulary
Comments: This was great, of course – as I discovered that it’s primarily a vocabulary book.
Other Considerations
Yes No
x
The textbook is sensitive to the cultural backgrounds and interests of our students.
Comments:
x
This textbook was written for adult learners and is suitable for our student population.
Comments:
x
The textbook reflects learners’ preferences in terms of layout, design, and organization.
Comments:
x
The exercises and activities reinforce what students have already learned and represent
a progression from simple to more complex.
Comments: Yes, but, again the book is very dense, and the progression is slow.
x
The exercises and activities are varied in format.
Comments: Vocab exercises all the same format in each chapter; other skills (e.g. topic vs. main idea) practiced in different formats from
chapter to chapter.
x
There are enough exercises to provide homework material
Comments:
x
The student book includes an answer key and/or tapescript
Comments:
x
There is a test or handout bank available to instructors
Comments: These were in the teacher’s guide.
x There are associated interactive materials available to students (website, etc.)
Comments:
Part 2. Written Response. Write on this sheet or attach your response. Be as brief or
expansive as you like.
1) Please tell us what you found to be the book’s strongest points.

The topics of the readings are current and of high interest and usefulness – business
issues (e.g. worker- owned companies, word of mouth advertising), health issues,
appropriate technologies, environmental concerns and economics (e.g. the Grameen Bank.)
Each general topic is a unit, and each unit has 4 passages, so varied aspects of the topic
are covered.

Target vocabulary is useful for students’ own lives, and is pre-academic. (I didn’t do an
analysis of all the words, but some seemed good candidates for the AWL.) Thorough and
plentiful exercises, including identifying parts of speech, plus some work with collocations
and similar vocabulary strategies. Target vocabulary from prior chapters is recycled
throughout the text.
2) Please tell us what you found to be the book’s weakest points.

Too dense! There are 20 chapters spread over 5 units – and we were only able to
comfortably get through 5 chapters (Unit 1 + one chapter from Unit 2.) The progression
through the reading skills is quite slow, and then not intense or thorough enough.

It’s a bit on the difficult side. The usual cadre of “zippy” students that every class has
didn’t have too much trouble, but the average and weaker students struggled. I
discovered later that another teacher in the RC office had used New Password 3 a few
terms ago, and that had seemed a better fit for Level 5.

Finally, one of the strong points – how vocab is presented – is also a weak point. Because
the presentation and practice of the target vocab was planful and scaffolded – that is, each
chapter built on the previous ones, and as each chapter was progressively longer and more
sophisticated, it was not possible to “jump around” the book to hit the reading skills that
needed to be studied without completely overwhelming the students. Hence, the dutiful
“plodding through” chapter to chapter and only getting 1/5 of the way into the text.
3) Did students perform well on tests and quizzes related to the book?
I only gave one test related to Unit 1 (Chapters 1-4) – it was difficult for them, but perhaps half
the class got 70% or better.
Part 3. Overall Recommendation.
On a scale of 1 – 10, one being the weakest and 10 being the strongest, how strongly do you
recommend this book for inclusion on the ESOL Approved Booklist?
1
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3
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5
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8
9
10