The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development publishes an annual collection of highly rated software in Only the Best: The Annual Guide to the Highest-Rated Software and Multimedia. Each year, the ASCD surveys about 25 state agencies, school districts, and groups evaluating software and selects titles that win high marks from several evaluators while earning no negative reviews. Beginning last year, the group also named software titles as “Only the Best Classics” if they received “excellent” grades from evaluators after being published in an edition of Only the Best. Below are the 13 Classics from the 1997-98 Only the Best guide.
Arts
Opening Night, Learning Co., 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, MN 55430; (800) 685-6322; www.learningco.com. $44.95. Grades 3-12.
Early Childhood
Bailey’s Book House, Edmark Corp., 6727 185th Ave. N.E., Redmond, WA 98052; (800) 691-2985; www.edmark.com. $49.95. Grades preK-2.
Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds, Humongous Entertainment, 13110 N.E. 177th Place, Suite B101, Box 180, Woodinville, WA 98072-9965; (800) 499-8386; www.humongous.com. $19.95. Ages 3-8.
Trudy’s Time & Place House, Edmark Corp., 6727 185th Ave. N.E., Redmond, WA 98052; (800) 691-2985; www.edmark.com. $59.95. Grades preK-2.
Foreign Languages
The Rosetta Stone Spanish I: Spanish, Fairfield Language Technologies, 165 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22801; (800) 788-0822; www.trstone.com. $395. Grades 2 and up.
Language Arts
My Own Stories, Learning Company, 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, MN 55430; (800) 685-6322; www.learningco.com. $49.95. Grades 3-8.
Mathematics
The Cruncher, Davidson & Associates Inc., 19840 Pioneer Ave., Torrance, CA 90503; (800) 545-7677; www.education.com. $73. Ages 10 and up.
DinoPark Tycoon, Learning Company, 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, MN 55430; (800) 685-6322; www.learningco.com. $49.95. Grades 3-12.
The Graph Club, Tom Snyder Productions, 80 Coolidge Hill Road, Watertown, MA 02172; (800) 342-0236; www.teachtsp.com. $79.95. Grades K-4.
TesselMania!, Learning Company, 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, MN 55430; (800) 685-6322; www.learningco.com. $49.95. Grades 3-12.
Science
Mammals: A Multimedia Encyclopedia, National Geographic Society, P.O. Box 10597, Des Moines, IA 50340-0597; (800) 368-2728. $69.95. Grades 2-12.
Odell Down Under, Learning Company, 6160 Summit Drive North, Minneapolis, MN 55430; (800) 685-6322; www.learningco.com. $34.95. Grades 3-12.
Social Studies
CrossCountry USA, VR Didatech, 720 Olive Way, Suite 1020, Seattle, WA 98101-3874; (800) 665-0667; www.vrsystems.com. $49.95 for Windows or Macintosh; $39.95 for Apple. Grades 4-9.
