Wethersfield Public Schools
Textbook and Instructional Materials Adoption and Purchase Procedures
1. Books/materials that must be approved for purchase through the Director of
Curriculum & Instruction Office
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Any new textbook/materials (the book, electronic resource, or set of instructional
materials)
Any replacement textbooks (the book, electronic resource, or set of instructional
materials)
Any supplemental resource or classroom instructional materials – Defined as
any other any resource other than textbooks or trade books/novels (e.g. science kits,
workbooks, magazines, dictionaries) that are used by all students in a class, or the
majority of the class, and that serve as a source of content for and/or support for
instruction for all teachers in a grade level or course area.
Any District Teacher Resource material - Defined as books and other materials
that focus on instructional methodology and/or provide background information
used by all teachers in a grade/content area in preparing lessons.
2. Books/materials that do not need to be approved for purchase through the Director of
Curriculum & Instruction Office
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Teacher resource material – Defined as books and other materials that focus on
instructional methodology and/or provide background information used by one
teacher in preparing lessons. (only one copy is purchased for the building)
If a teacher resource material is being purchased for all teachers in a grade
level (in a building or district) or all teachers of a specific course , this material
must be approved by the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. (see #1
above)
Trade books/novels – Defined as longer works of prose fiction or non-fiction,
traditional published as individual books. Trade books / novels and non-fiction
leveled readers do not need prior approval from the Director of Curriculum and
Instruction Office. These books must be approved by the building principal
responsible if they are not on the district’s list of novels assigned to specific grade
levels. These books must be related to curriculum units of study (literacy and/or
content area units).
3. Books\materials that must be adopted through the formal, textbook adoption
procedure
Any text (the book, electronic resource, or set of instructional materials) that serve as the
foundation for more than fifty percent of the course content shall be considered the basic
textbook and must be formally adopted by the Wethersfield Board of Education. This
does not apply to trade books/novels nor other supplemental or support materials.
A new edition of a text that has already been approved for use in the district may be
purchased without submitting the new edition to the adoption process provided that the
original adoption date is no more than five years old. These purchases need to be
approved by the Director of Curriculum and Instruction.
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2. Who is responsible for adopting textbooks?
Board Policy 6161 states, “The Board of Education will make the final textbook selection
decision.”
3. What are the steps in the adoption procedure?
A. An ad hoc textbook selection committee will be established by the Director of
Curriculum/or designee identified by the Curriculum Office.
a. The ad hoc textbook committee should have the following representative:
i. Instructional Supervisor or designee by the Curriculum Office as
committee Chair.
ii. At least 3 teachers from the content / grade. (if applicable)
iii. Reading/LA consultant.
iv. For elementary materials, fair and equal representation from each
elementary school will be included
v. The committee must seek input from all teachers who will use the text.
B. The textbook selection committee will evaluate possible texts (book, electronic
resource, or set of instructional materials) using the following process and
guidelines.
a. Work with Instructional Supervisor or Curriculum Office designee to develop a
time line of tasks and due dates. This time line will be shared and approved by
the Director of Curriculum and Instruction. Please note that the textbook
adoption process typically takes a minimum of 4 months from start to finish.
Textbook purchases also need to be submitted as budget requests.
b. Brainstorm priorities for the text (book, electronic resource, or set of
instructional materials) i.e. differentiation, readability, integration of reading
or writing strategies, online book, etc.
c. Request samples from publishers and review a minimum of 3 samples. If three
appropriate texts were not found, a written explanation of this circumstance
must accompany the recommendation form.
d. Narrow text selection to approximately 3 samples.
e. Complete Student Rating form for 3 samples.
f. Complete the Recommendation for Textbook Adoption form for the text
recommended by the committee. This includes a Reading Department
Evaluation.
g. Prepare and forward final forms and copy of the text to the Director of
Curriculum and Instruction.
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C. The Administrative Team (K-12 principals and Central Office) will then decide on
whether to endorse the recommendation of the ad hoc textbook evaluation committee.
If the Administrative Team does not endorse the recommendation, the textbook
committee will be asked to reconsider based on the questions or concerns identified by
the Administrative Team. If the recommendation is endorsed, it is then sent to the
Board of Education committee, Student Program and Services, for action.
a. The Administrative Team shall be responsible for determining that:
i. The required steps have been taken to evaluate the texts.
ii. The text aligns with the K-12 curriculum and utilizes current pedagogy
for the content area.
iii. Aligns with District program goals and philosophy.
iv. The text is coordinated with materials selected for other grades to avoid
unnecessary repetition of materials.
D. The Board of Education will discuss a proposed textbook adoption at a meeting of its
Student Programs and Services Committee. Board members will receive notice of
the pending textbook adoption request with copies of the Recommendation for
Textbook Adoption form. A copy of the textbook and accompanying materials that is
recommended will be available in the office of the Director of Curriculum and
Instruction if a board member wishes to look at the text in advance of the meeting.
The Board of Education will review the proposed adoption at its next regularly
scheduled meeting. The text is adopted after approval at the second Board of
Education meeting.
4. Time line for textbook adoption
Under normal circumstances, a recommendation for the adoption of a textbook requires a
minimum of 4 months to work its way through the process. It is recommended that ad
hoc textbook adoption committees start their work in January in order to purchase the
book July 1 of the next school year to be used in the fall.
The intent to purchase textbooks (replacement, new or supplemental) or materials must
be made to the Director of Curriculum or Instructional Supervisor in October to the year
prior to purchase.
Revised December 7, 2010
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{curric/newdrive/curriculum documents & programs/wps textbook selection process}