State Review Process
For the states currently included in the dashboard, learn more about their process, including links to posted materials and standards. Several states with state review processes are in transition with standards or reviews and therefore will be added in the future. Find out the schedule for state reviews at SIMRA
| State | Process
|
Review Process | Posted Materials | Standards |
| Arkansas | Act 1280 focused on digital learning and provides guidance on reviewing digital instructional materials. Arkansas students have the opportunity to learn in a quality digital learning environment that will provide a solid foundation for succeeding in a digital world. Our mission is to provide resources and support to schools and stakeholders during the planning, implementation, and evaluation of quality digital learning environments. Beginning with the 2014-2015 school year, every student in Arkansas must take one digital course by the time of graduation per Act 1280. | AR Process | AR Standards | |
| Georgia | The ACHIEVE rubric is used for vetting resources before inclusion into Teacher Resource Link. A user rating and comment system is in place within Teacher Resource Link in order to share collaborative comments on resources within Teacher Resource Link. | GA Process | GA Standards | |
| Idaho | Textbook/material adoption is the right and responsibility of each Idaho district and charter. As a service, the state reviews materials on a 6-year rotating basis and provides an approved list of materials. Materials review is completed in sync with the standards review process. However, Idaho is modifying the materials review process to address the prevalence of digital resources and OER materials. Local districts are free to choose from the list or use other materials as long as materials are aligned to current Idaho content standards, researched based, and of high quality. | ID Process | ID Post | ID Standards |
| Louisiana | Louisiana’s textbook adoption policy, Bulletin 741, Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators, Revised January 2019 states that schools shall provide instructional materials for all students; adopt policies and regulations for the adoption and use of instructional materials; and ensure that instructional materials are free from bias. Louisiana recently updated the definition for textbooks to include digital resources. As a local control state, local school systems determine whether instructional materials are appropriate to meet the educational needs of their students. As a service and benefit to school systems, Louisiana reviews and adopts publisher submitted instructional materials and negotiates pricing for those materials. School systems may, but are not obligated to, purchase instructional materials from the state contract. Local school systems have three options when adopting textbooks and purchasing instructional materials. Louisiana’s Publisher’s User Guide provides detailed information about the instructional materials review and selection process. Publishers also have access to the rubrics used in the review process at the Online Instructional Materials Reviews website. Each year publishers are invited to submit materials, including OER, for review. | LA Process | LA Post | LA Standards |
| Mississippi | Mississippi solicits bids from publishers for titles to be reviewed and subsequently recommended to the State Board of Education. Approved vendors enter into a no-cost contract that allows for uniform costs across districts. The state does not specify a certain amount of funding that must be used by districts to purchase instructional materials. Districts typically use state or local funds to purchase textbooks (print or digital). To provide the highest quality of instructional materials to implement the curriculum frameworks for the schools across the state of Mississippi, the MDE has established a plan for the adoption, purchase, distribution, care and use of textbooks for students in all public schools that is an 18 month process. School districts are not required to purchase textbooks from the adopted list, they must choose materials that align to the standards. | MS Post | MS Standards | |
| Nevada | Nevada’s State Board of Education (SBE) approves instructional materials and Nevada Department of Education provides guidance to districts while making recommendations to the SBE regarding instructional materials. Nevada hosts the Nevada Instructional Materials Resource Center to support deep understanding of the Nevada Academic Content Standards (NVACS). These materials are created, in collaboration with Nevada educators, to provide opportunities to investigate and explore the standards and standards based instruction. The instructional materials housed in the resource center do not constitute a comprehensive curriculum. Rather, they stand as starting place for collaborative content teams to begin developing lessons, units of instruction, aligned assignments and common assessments that will prepare every Nevada student to be college and career ready. | NV Process | NV Post | NV Standards |
| New Mexico | The New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) is authorized under Sections 22-15-1 through 22-15-31, NMSA, 1978 Compilation, to adopt a multiple list of instructional materials and distribute funds directly to local school districts, charter districts, charter schools, and state supported schools. The instructional material fund is used to pay for instructional material pursuant to the Instructional Material Law. New Mexico has a textbook review process conducted the first full week of June each year where material is reviewed by highly qualified teachers for alignment with NM content standards and benchmarks and other relevant criteria. The subjects reviewed rotate on a six-year cycle. The Secretary of Education approves an adopted multiple list of core basal and supplemental instructional materials. The Department may conduct a special review if circumstances allow outside of the six-year window. |
NM Post | NM Standards | |
| North Carolina | North Carolina’s review process is specifically related to textbooks/full curriculum materials. The selection of textbooks consists of a review of systematically organized material comprehensive enough to cover the primary objectives outlined in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for a grade or course. Members appointed to the North Carolina Textbook Commission review textbooks that may be print or non-print, using evaluative criteria to select the best materials to support the goals and objectives of the Standard Course of Study. The Textbook Commission makes recommendations to the State Board of Education and recommendations adopted by the Board are placed on a state adopted list. Districts may leverage the state adopted list to make local textbook selections. | NC Process | NC Post | NC Standards |
| Oklahoma | In April of each year, the State Textbook Committee issues a “Call for Bids” for instructional materials for specific subject areas. These instructional materials are adopted by the State Textbook Committee on a rotating basis, usually for a period of six years. Instructional Technology is adopted every three years. Publishers respond by announcing their intent to bid, after which they provide the State Textbook Committee with samples of their materials and correlations to the Oklahoma Academic Standards. The State Textbook Committee reviews these instructional materials and votes in November to approve them for the state-adopted list. | OK Process | OK Post | OK Standards |
| Oregon | Oregon law Chapter 581, Division 22, of the Oregon Administrative Rules provides guidance for Instructional Materials Adoption. Oregon’s review of instructional materials adheres to an adoption schedule of core content areas adopted by the State Board of Education. A review of a content areas is an annual process. The state announces the content area up for adoption at the beginning of the year. Publishers submit required forms established in Oregon law including documentation and analysis of each instructional material. Once all forms are provided, evaluation committees are convened to review the submitted instructional materials. Those that pass the review will be placed on an approved list to be adopted by the State board of Education. The adopted list of approved instructional materials is a recommended list for school districts to adopt instructional materials. | OR Process | OR Post | OR Standards |
| South Carolina | The State Board of Education has the responsibility and duty to adopt the instructional materials used for instruction in the public schools of South Carolina. In South Carolina, the state instructional materials adoption process includes the review and adoption of print and digital materials. Regulations regarding textbooks are posted here. The Department of Education facilitates the process using the guidelines and procedures outlined in the Instructional Materials Adoption regulations which include the bids process for instructional materials. | SC Process | SC Post | SC Standards |
| Texas | The State Board of Education (SBOE) issues a call for new instructional materials for specific subjects and courses when the state standards for that subject or course are revised. The commissioner of education appoints the state review panel members from nominations submitted by educational organizations across the state, educators, academic experts, parents, or SBOE members. The state review panels review the materials to determine the extent to which the standards are covered and to identify factual errors. Links are posted on the agency website to all materials submitted for consideration during the public review period. Any resident of Texas may submit written comments or report alleged factual errors to the commissioner. The commissioner provides reports to the SBOE outlining the state review panel’s findings and listing any reported errors and provides copies of all public comment received. The SBOE also holds a public hearing allowing citizens the opportunity to provide oral testimony about instructional materials submitted for adoption. The SBOE determines by majority vote whether materials are adopted. | TX Process | TX Post | TX Standards |
| Utah | The state provides a Recommended Instructional Materials System (RIMS) which is utilized by most districts and includes contracted prices that are guaranteed for five years. Digital materials are included in Utah’s semi-annual scheduled reviews of instructional materials. Utah is a member state of the State Instructional Materials Review Association, as well as SETDA, and collaborates with many other states in formulating the best instructional materials review procedures for all types of curriculum resources, both digital and non-digital. The Favored Nation Status guarantees district and local education agencies the lowest price offered anywhere in the state. Funding for Digital Learning Resources (DLRs), including hardware and digital curriculum is available through state equipment funds and textbook funds (textbook funds can be used to purchase electronic equipment). |
UT Process | UT Post | UT Standards |
| Virginia | The adoption of digital instructional materials is left to the discretion of individual school divisions, though guidelines provided by the state must be followed as they are for printed instructional materials. Virginia is part of the national GoOpen project. GoOpenVa is about two years along and is nurturing the use of open education resources (OER) throughout the state, with the eventual goal of encouraging the development and sharing of teacher-created resources. | VA Process | VA Post | VA Standards |