SECTION 66.66. Consideration and Adoption of Instructional Materials by the State Board of Education

(a) The State Board of Education (SBOE) shall either adopt or reject each submitted instructional material in accordance with the Texas Education Code (TEC), §31.024.

(b) The SBOE shall adopt instructional materials in accordance with the TEC, §31.023. Instructional materials may be adopted only if:

(1) they meet at least 50% of the Texas essential knowledge and skills (TEKS) or Texas Prekindergarten Guidelines (TPG) when the SBOE calls for materials as specified in §66.27(c)(1) of this title (relating to Proclamation, Public Notice, and Schedule for Adopting Instructional Materials) or meet requirements of the proclamation when the SBOE calls for materials as specified in §66.27(c)(2) or (3) of this title for the subject and grade level or course(s) in materials designed for student use and materials designed for teacher use. In determining the percentage of the TEKS or TPG covered by instructional materials, each student expectation shall count as an independent element of the TEKS or TPG;

(2) the publisher has agreed to ensure that they meet the established physical specifications adopted by the SBOE prior to making materials available for use in districts;

(3) the publisher has agreed to ensure that they follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and technical specifications of the Federal Rehabilitation Act, Section 508, as specified in the proclamation;

(4) they are free from factual errors, including significant grammatical or punctuation errors that have been determined to impede student learning or that make the product of a quality not acceptable in Texas public schools, or the publisher has agreed to correct any identified factual errors or grammatical or punctuation errors that have been determined to impede student learning, prior to making them available for use in districts and charter schools;

(5) they are deemed to be suitable for the subject area and grade level;

(6) they have been reviewed by academic experts in the subject and grade level; and

(7) they receive approval by majority vote of the SBOE.

(c) No instructional material may be adopted that contains content that clearly conflicts with the stated purpose of the TEC, §28.002(h).

(d) Instructional materials submitted for review may be rejected by majority vote of the SBOE in accordance with the TEC, §31.024.

(e) Instructional materials the board determines that, based on the initial review, contain extensive errors and make a product of a quality not acceptable in Texas public schools are not determined to be free from factual errors.

(f) A publisher may withdraw from the adoption process at any time prior to execution of a contract with the SBOE for any reason by providing notification in writing to the commissioner of education. Notification of withdrawal is final and irrevocable.

(g) The commissioner may remove materials from the adopted list if the publisher fails to meet deadlines established in the schedule of adoption procedures.

Source Note: The provisions of this §66.66 adopted to be effective September 1, 1996, 21 TexReg 7236; amended to be effective September 1, 1997, 22 TexReg 3779; 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 27, 2018, 43 TexReg 1846; amended to beeffective March 24, 2020, 45 TexReg 1989