Textbook Adoption

Textbooks and related materials for each curricular area in all grade levels are adopted on a 5 to 7-year cycle. For Grades K-8, the State Department of Education appoints two independent committees to evaluate instructional materials submitted by publishers. Materials are evaluated for alignment to the state standards as well as California Education Code Article 3 guidelines for appropriate content. The State Department of Education (DOE) must then approve the programs recommended by these two committees. A State matrix of approved programs in each subject area is available online. Following the State recommendations, a district level textbook adoption is initiated. The district process further refines the State recommendations by identifying which one of the recommended programs best meets the needs of the LBUSD student population.

• District adoption committees are formed for each subject area being adopted.
• Each committee is comprised of teachers from various grade levels and the curriculum leader of the subject area being adopted.
• The committee compiles a list of needed materials.
• Publishers submit samples based on the list of needs.
• Committee members evaluate the publishers1 samples based on that State Content Standards 2 and verify compliance with social content standards.
• Instructional materials are ranked on a scoring rubric developed by the committee.
• A 30-day public display is held to allow parents, administrators, and teachers to view the textbooks being recommended and to provide input.
• The recommended program is presented to a Committee of Review made up of various district administrators.
• If recommended by the Committee of Review, the textbooks are presented to the district Board of Education for approval.

For Grades 9-12, evaluation and approval of instructional materials is done at the local level only. The high school adoption committees follow the same procedures as the K-8 committees with one additional step. At Grades 9-12, the evaluation process includes the validation that the Standards Maps submitted by the publishers are aligned to the California State Standards.