SELECTION AND ADOPTION

SELECTION AND ADOPTION 6161

It is the policy of the Board of Education to provide educational materials and equipment that support and enrich the curriculum and further the achievement of the district’s goals. Insofar as possible, all textbooks and other instructional materials should present balanced views concerning the international, national and local issues and problems of our times.

Materials shall not be excluded solely because of the race, nationality, political or religious views of the writer or his/her style.

While the Board is legally responsible for all matters relating to the adoption of textbooks and purchase of library and other supplementary materials, the responsibility for reviewing and selecting instructional materials is delegated to the administration and appropriate curriculum committee at each of the schools.  The content curriculum committee will review textbooks proposed for adoption.  School administration will approve all library and other supplementary materials..

Materials selected by the school curriculum committees shall:

support the curriculum, taking into consideration the individual’s needs and varied interests, abilities, socio-economic backgrounds and maturity levels of the student served;

provide materials for teachers and students that will encourage growth in knowledge and will develop literary, cultural and aesthetic appreciation and ethical standards;

provide materials which reflect the ideas and beliefs of religious, social, political, historical, and ethnic groups and their contribution to the American and world heritage and culture, thereby enabling students to develop an intellectual integrity in forming judgments.

The needs of the individual school based on the curriculum and the existing collection of instructional materials shall be the first criterion for selection. Materials shall also be selected on the basis of:

overall need;

currency or permanence;

importance of subject matter;

quality of writing/production;

readability and popular appeal;

authoritativeness;

reputation of the publisher/producer;

reputation and significance of the author/artist/composer/producer;

format and price;

requests from faculty and students;

suitability for age level.

Cross Reference:

Policy 6140.1 (Study Committees)

Policy 6160 (Textbook Selection and Adoption)

Policy 1312 (Public Comments)

Approved April 28, 1981

Amended:  December 6, 2016

Previous Policy Number: HH1.1