1. (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 instructional materials as well as in the teacher version of the instructional materials. 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 instructional materials. Panel members will use State Board of Education-approved procedures for evaluating coverage of the essential knowledge and skills at least once in the student text narrative or its electronic equivalent and once in either an end-of-section review exercise, an end-of-chapter activity, or a unit test or their electronic equivalents. 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) A TEKS standard is considered sufficiently covered if the instructional materials provide one of the following:

         1. (i) an opportunity for the teacher to teach the knowledge or skill;
         2. (ii) an opportunity for the student to learn the knowledge or skill; or
         3. (iii) an opportunity for the student to demonstrate the knowledge or practice the skill.
      5. (E) If a TEKS standard has multiple student expectations, the requirements of subparagraph (D) of this paragraph will be applied to each student expectation to ensure sufficient coverage.
      6. (F) TEKS standards are not considered covered if only included in side bars, captions, or questions at the end of a section or chapter.
      7. (G) Each student expectation must be clearly evident in the instructional materials to ensure sufficient coverage.
   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 adopted list or rejected;
   3. (3) submit to the commissioner of education a list of any factual errors in instructional materials discovered during the review conducted 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 TEC, §28.002(h).
2. (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.
3. (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.
4. (d) State review panel members shall be afforded the opportunity to collaborate with other panel members during the official meetings to discuss coverage of TEKS, 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 regarding the instructional materials being reviewed, 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.
5. (e) State review panel members shall affix their signatures to all recommendations to the commissioner of education.
6. (f) 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; amended to be effective February 22, 2010, 35 TexReg 1454; amended to be effective July 8, 2012, 37 TexReg 4911.