John Tobey and Jeff Slater are experienced developmental math authors and active classroom teachers.  They have carefully crafted their texts to support students in this course by staying with them every step of the way.  Tobey and Slater... With you every step of the way.    This 6th edtion of Beginning Algebra is appropriate for a 1-sem course in appropriate for a 1-sem course in Introductory, Beginning or Elementary Algebra where a solid foundation in algebraic skills and reasoning is being built for those students who have little or no previous experience with the topice.  The utlimate goal of this text is to effectively prepare students to transition to Intermediate Algebra.  One of the hallmark characteristics of Beginning Algebra 6e that makes the text easy to learn from is the building-block organization.  Each section is written to stand on its own, and each homework set is completely self-testing.  Beginning Algebra 6e is a worktext, meaning the design is open and friendly with wide margins so can you can encourage your students to take notes and work exercises right on the text page.  Also with worktexts, images/visuals are used more frequently to convey the math concept so there are fewer words and less text for the student to read.