SECTION 66.36. State Review Panels: Training, Duties, and Conduct

(a) State review panel members shall participate in training that includes at least the following:

(1) the responsibilities of a state review panel member;

(2) statutes and rules pertaining to the state adoption process;

(3) essential knowledge and skills specified for subjects and grades or courses included in the proclamation;

(4) clear and consistent guidelines for determining Texas essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) or Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (TPG) coverage within the instructional materials;

(5) identifying factual errors;

(6) the schedule of adoption procedures;

(7) instruction in the use of technology appropriate to media submitted for adoption; and

(8) regulatory requirements, including the Government Code, §572.051 (relating to Standards of Conduct), and the Texas Penal Code, §36.02 (relating to Bribery). Copies of the statutes mentioned in this section shall be supplied to each state review panel member.

(b) The duties of the members of a state review panel are to:

(1) evaluate all instructional materials submitted for review assigned to the panel to determine if essential knowledge and skills are covered in the instructional materials intended for student use and the instructional materials intended for teacher use. All portions of instructional materials must be reviewed by at least two panel members for the purpose of this review. Nothing in this rule shall be construed to contravene the Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.004(e)(5), which makes coverage of contraception and condom use optional in both the student and teacher editions of health instructional materials. Coverage must be identified as described in §66.27(h) of this title (relating to Proclamation, Public Notice, and Schedule for Adopting Instructional Materials) to be considered complete. The requirements to be met in evaluating coverage of essential knowledge and skills shall include the following.

(A) State review panel members must participate in a team during the review and reach a consensus, or a simple majority if the panel members are unable to reach consensus, to determine whether the TEKS or TPG have been covered sufficiently in the instructional materials.

(B) A publisher's citation for coverage of any specific student expectation may be accepted only if it provides one of the following:

(i) an opportunity for the teacher to teach the component of the knowledge or skill in the teacher material;

(ii) an opportunity for the student to learn the component of the knowledge or skill in the student material or the teacher material; or

(iii) an opportunity for the student to demonstrate the component of the knowledge or practice the component of the skill in the student material or the teacher material.

(C) Student expectations are not considered covered if only included in side bars, captions, or questions at the end of a section or chapter.

(D) Each student expectation must be clearly evident in the instructional materials to ensure sufficient coverage.

(E) Student expectations that contain the word "including" reference content that must be covered in instructional materials, while those containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative examples and are not required to be covered in instructional materials;

(2) submit a consensus report, or, if necessary, majority and minority reports that reflect the opinions of all panel members listed by team role, to the commissioner of education indicating which TEKS or TPG are and are not covered in each product assigned to be evaluated by the state review panel;

(3) if applicable, submit a consensus report, or, if necessary, majority and minority reports that reflect the opinions of all panel members listed by team role, to the commissioner indicating which English language proficiency standards required for any specific product as established by the proclamation are and are not covered in each product assigned to be evaluated by the state review panel;

(4) submit to the commissioner a list of all factual errors in instructional materials discovered during the review conducted by the state review panel through the submission of a consensus report, or, if necessary, majority and minority reports that reflect the opinions of all panel members listed by team role;

(5) as appropriate for a subject area and/or grade level, ascertain that instructional materials submitted for review do not contain content that clearly conflicts with the stated purpose of the TEC, §28.002(h); and

(6) at the conclusion of the review process, certify to the State Board of Education (SBOE) compliance with subsection (a) of this section and with this subsection.

(c) State review panel members shall not accept meals, entertainment, gifts, or gratuities in any form from SBOE members; publishers, authors, or depositories; agents for publishers, authors, or depositories; any person who holds any official position with publishers, authors, depositories, or agents; or any person or organization interested in influencing the selection of instructional materials.

(d) Before presenting a final report to the commissioner, state review panel members shall be given an opportunity to request a meeting with a publisher to obtain responses to questions regarding instructional materials being evaluated by the state review panel. Questions shall be provided to publishers in advance of the meeting.

(e) State review panel members shall be afforded the opportunity to collaborate with other panel members during the official virtual and face-to-face reviews to discuss coverage of TEKS or TPG, errors, components, or any other aspect of instructional materials being evaluated. A member of a state review panel shall not discuss with other members of the panel the instructional materials being reviewed, except during official virtual and face-to-face reviews.

(f) State review panel members shall not discuss instructional materials being evaluated with a member of the SBOE or with any party having a financial interest in the adoption of instructional materials prior to the conclusion of the review. The review is considered to have concluded on the date that the list of instructional materials recommended for adoption is posted on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) website.

(g) SBOE members may attend review panel meetings but may not discuss materials under review with state review panel members.

(h) State review panel members shall observe a no-contact period that shall begin with the initial communication regarding possible appointment to a state review panel and end when the final report showing the findings of the review panels is posted on the TEA website. During this period, state review panel members shall not have direct or indirect communication with any person having an interest in the adoption process regarding content of instructional materials under evaluation by the panel.

(i) The restrictions in subsections (e)-(h) of this section are not intended to prohibit members of the state review panels from seeking advice from educators, experts, or parents regarding the meaning or intent of the student expectations that the materials must cover.

(j) The restrictions in subsections (e)-(h) of this section are not intended to prohibit members of the state review panels from providing public testimony to the SBOE either at a public hearing or in any regularly scheduled meeting in accordance with the SBOE Operating Rules, §2.12 (relating to Public Hearings).

(k) State review panel members shall report immediately to the commissioner any communication or attempted communication by any person not officially involved in the review process regarding instructional materials being evaluated by the panel.

(l) State review panel members participating in the face-to-face review shall affix their signatures to all reports to the commissioner. State review panel members participating in the virtual review shall submit their reports electronically through email accounts owned by the review panel members, which will serve as their electronic signatures.

(m) Members of each state review panel may be required to be present at the SBOE meeting at which instructional materials are adopted.

Source Note: The provisions of this §66.36 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 7236; amended to be effective March 4, 2001, 26 TexReg 1706; amended to be effective October 12, 2006, 31 TexReg 8354; amended to be effective December 25, 2007, 32 TexReg 9611; amended to be effective February 22, 2010, 35 TexReg 1454; amended to be effective July 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 4911; amended to be effective March 13, 2014, 39 TexReg 1709; amended to be effective May 5, 2016, 41 TexReg 3137; amended to be effective March 24, 2020, 45 TexReg 1989