19 Tex. Admin. Code § 66.36 – State Review Panels: Duties and Conduct

(a) The duties of each member of a state review panel are to:
1. (1) evaluate all instructional materials submitted for adoption in each subject assigned to the panel to determine if essential knowledge and skills are covered in the student version of the textbook, as well as in the teacher version of the textbook. 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 textbooks. Panel members will use State Board of Education-approved procedures for evaluating coverage of the essential knowledge and skills in the student text narrative in addition to end-of-section review exercises, end-of-chapter activities, or unit tests as required in the proclamation. The approved procedures include the following.
  1. (A) State review panel members must participate in training to ensure clear and consistent guidelines for determining full Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) coverage within the instructional materials.
  2. (B) State review panel members must participate in a team during the review and reach a consensus to determine if the TEKS have been covered sufficiently in the instructional materials.
  3. (C) Instructional materials shall be evaluated for TEKS coverage at each grade level.
  4. (D) One reference to a TEKS statement is not considered sufficient coverage. At least three examples of each student expectation must be evident in the instructional materials to ensure sufficient coverage.
  5. (E) If a TEKS statement has multiple student expectations, at least three examples of each student expectation must be evident in the instructional materials to ensure sufficient coverage.
  6. (F) TEKS statements are not considered covered if only included in side bars, captions, or one question at the end of a chapter.
2. (2) make recommendations to the commissioner of education that each submission assigned to be evaluated by the state review panel be placed on the conforming list, nonconforming list, or rejected;
3. (3) submit to the commissioner of education a list of any factual errors in instructional materials assigned to be evaluated by the state review panel; and
4. (4) as appropriate to a subject area and/or grade level, ascertain that instructional materials submitted for adoption do not contain content that clearly conflicts with the stated purpose of the Texas Education Code, §28.002(h).
(b) State review panel members shall not accept meals, entertainment, gifts, or gratuities in any form from 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.
(c) Before presenting recommendations to the commissioner of education, 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.
(d) State textbook review panel members shall be afforded the opportunity to collaborate with other panel members during the official meetings to discuss coverage of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, errors, manufacturing specifications, or any other aspect of instructional materials being evaluated. A member of a state review panel shall have no contact with other members of the panel except during official meetings. State review panel members shall not discuss instructional materials being evaluated with any party having a direct or indirect interest in adoption of instructional materials.
(e) Members of each state review panel may be required to be present at the State Board of Education 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.