District-Level Textbook and Instructional Material Adoption

Each Oklahoma school district has a responsibility to conduct a thorough review of instructional materials to guide the investment of textbook funding. A Local Textbook Committee must be established consistent with legislative requirements found at 70 O.S. § 16-111. In brief, the Local Textbook Committee should:

• consist of three to nine members, including a local community stakeholder, a chairperson who is a principal or curriculum specialist, and the remaining members (and also a majority of the Committee) should be classroom teachers; 
• establish a duly appointed local textbook coordinator who may request any approved publisher provide an examination copy of the textbook and teacher edition and a copy of the software for purposes of complete demonstration and review; 
• review instructional materials according to the process prescribed by the State Board of Education and adopt textbooks only from the list of textbooks selected by the State Textbook Committee; and 
• be able to, upon request, provide agendas and sign-in sheets for local textbook committee meetings.

To support Local Textbook Committees in their review of instructional materials, a science evaluation rubric for the FY22 adoption cycle has been developed and is available for use.

• Sample Instructional Materials Evaluation Rubric for Science (view template)

Local Textbook Committee Responsibilities At-A-Glance

1. Districts must appoint members to the local textbook committee. This usually occurs in October or early November of each year and no later than February. 
2. The local textbook committee needs to meet to become familiar with, and/or make recommendations to improve, district guidance and requirements for textbook evaluations. 
3. After the Oklahoma State Textbooks Committee approves materials up for adoption for the upcoming school year, the district committee can begin to reach out to selected publishers to request samples and/or present to the committee.
4. Once the district chooses the textbook(s) for adoption, the textbook committee must submit the adoption recommendation to the district. 
5. Districts may purchase textbooks on or after July 1 of each year.

For a more detailed timeline, visit the Oklahoma District Textbook Committee Timeline. 

Submission of a Textbook Plan

The superintendent of each school district shall submit to the State Board of Education a textbook plan outlining the estimated number of textbooks needed by the school district and the total amount of money to be expended by the district for textbooks. Further information on an improved method of submitting such plans will be provided in spring 2021.

Flexibility in the Use of State-Appropriated Funding

According to 70 O.S. § 16-114a(B), districts may request flexibility in the use of state-appropriated funding. Approval for such a request requires the school district to demonstrate to the State Board of Education that the textbooks and instructional materials used by the district for the subject areas being considered in the current textbook adoption cycle are current and appropriate for student learning. A school district that has received textbook funding flexibility approval from the Board may elect to expend any monies allocated for textbooks, including any monies carried over, for any purpose related to the support and maintenance of the school district as determined by the board of education of the school district. 

Visit the Accreditation Standards Division for more information about Statutory Waiver and Deregulation processes. 

Replacement of Destroyed Textbooks

State law, 70 O.S. §16-114a(C), allows for any textbooks distributed to districts that have been destroyed by fire or other hazard to be replaced by the State Board of Education. Please direct related inquiries to the Office of Legal Services. 

Additional Support

For more guidance on the requirements of Local Textbook Committees, visit https://oktextbooks.ok.gov. To speak with someone at the Oklahoma State Department of Education who is knowledgeable about these requirements, contact Rebecca Morales at Rebecca.Morales@sde.ok.gov. 

For further reading and ideas for improving the local review process, the following reports may be useful:

• EdReports
  • Selecting for Quality: Six Key Adoption Steps (2019)
  • Knowing Your Starting Point Data Inventory (2018)
• Instruction Partners
  • Questions for Naming Curriculum Criteria (Curriculum Support Guide, 2018)
  • Selection and Decision Making Approaches (Curriculum Support Guide, 2018)