BP 6161.1 — Selection and Evaluation of Instructional Materials

Section: 6000 - Instruction
Status: Active

Adopted: 2014-02-11

Revised: 2024-04-18

Policy text

SELECTION AND EVALUATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

The Governing Board desires that district instructional materials, as a whole, present a broad spectrum of knowledge and viewpoints, reflect society’s diversity, and enhance the use of multiple teaching strategies and technologies. The Board shall adopt instructional materials based on a determination that such materials are an effective learning resource to help students achieve grade-level competency and that the materials meet criteria specified in law. Textbooks, technology-based materials, and other educational materials shall be aligned with academic content standards and the district’s curriculum to ensure that they effectively support the district’s adopted courses of study.

The Board shall select instructional materials for use in grades K-8 that have been approved by the State Board of Education (SBE) or have otherwise been determined to be aligned with the state academic content standards adopted pursuant to Education Code 60605 or the Common Core Standards adopted pursuant to Education Code 60605.8.

The Board shall adopt instructional materials for grades 9-12 upon determining that the materials meet the criteria specified in law and administrative regulation.

The Board’s priority in the selection of instructional materials is to ensure that all students are provided with standards-aligned instructional materials in the core curriculum areas of English/language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science.

Public Hearing on Sufficiency of Instructional Materials

The Board shall annually conduct one or more public hearings on the sufficiency of the district’s instructional materials, including textbooks, technology-based materials, other educational materials, and tests. Technology-based materials include, but are not limited to, software programs, video disks, compact disks, optical disks, video and audio tapes, lesson plans, databases, and the electronic equipment required to make use of those materials by students and teachers as a learning resource.

The hearing shall be held on or before the end of the eighth week from the first day students attend school for that year.

The Board encourages participation by parents/guardians, teachers, interested community members, and bargaining unit leaders at the hearing. Ten days prior to the hearing, the Superintendent or designee shall post a notice in three public places within the district containing the time, place, and purpose of the hearing. The hearing shall not take place during or immediately following school hours.

At the hearing(s), the Board shall determine, through a resolution, whether each student in each school, including each English learner, has sufficient textbooks or instructional materials which are aligned to the state content standards adopted pursuant to Education Code 60605 or the Common Core Standards adopted pursuant to Education Code 60605.8 and which are consistent with the content and cycles of the state’s curriculum frameworks. Sufficiency of instructional materials shall be determined in each of the following subjects:

Mathematics
Science
History-social science
English language arts, including the English language development component of an adopted program
Foreign language
Health

The Board shall also determine the availability of science laboratory equipment, as applicable to science laboratory courses offered in grades 9-12.

In making these determinations, the Board shall consider whether each student has sufficient textbooks and/or instructional materials to use in class and to take home. This does not require that each student have two sets of materials. However, the materials shall not be considered sufficient if they are photocopied sheets from only a portion of a textbook or instructional materials copied to address a shortage.

If materials are in a digital format, they shall be considered sufficient as long as each student, at a minimum, has and can access the same materials in the class and to take home as all other students in the same class or course in the district, and has the ability to use and access them at home.

If the Board determines that there are insufficient textbooks or instructional materials, it shall provide information to classroom teachers and to the public setting forth, for each school in which an insufficiency exists, the percentage of students who lack sufficient standards-aligned textbooks or instructional materials in each subject area and the reasons that each student does not have sufficient textbooks or instructional materials. The Board shall take any action, except an action that would require reimbursement by the Commission of State Mandates, to ensure that each student has sufficient materials within two months of the beginning of the school year in which the determination is made.

Prohibition Against Refusal to Approve or Prohibit the Use of Specified Instructional Materials

The use of any textbook, instructional material, supplemental instructional material, or other curriculum for classroom instruction, or any book or other resource in a school library shall not be rejected or prohibited by the Board or district on the basis that it includes a study of the role and contributions of any individual or group consistent with the requirements of Education Code 51204.5 and 60040, unless such study would violate Education Code 51501 or 60044.

Complaints

Complaints concerning instructional materials shall be handled in accordance with law, Board policy, and administrative regulation.