INSTRUCTION 6161

Selection of Instructional Materials

The Manchester Board of Education is legally responsible for all matters relating to the operation of the school district. All instructional materials purchased by the school district for use in the instructional program shall be acquired in accordance with this policy and accompanying administrative guidelines. All textbook adoptions shall be approved by the board of education in accordance with general statutes.

The responsibility for reviewing and selecting instructional materials is delegated to professionally trained personnel employed by the school system. Selection of materials involves many people, including teachers, librarians, media specialists, department heads, and principals.

The primary objective of the school's instructional materials is to implement, enrich, and support the educational program of the school. The school is responsible for providing a wide range of materials on all levels of difficulty with diversity of appeal, and the presentation of different points of view.

The professional staff is responsible for recommending instructional materials which:

1.) Provide information and experiences that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the varied interests, abilities, and maturity of the pupils served.

2.) Provide information and experiences that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards.

3.) Provide a background of information which will enable pupils to make intelligent judgments in their daily life.

4.) Provide information on opposing sides of controversial issues so that young citizens may develop under guidance the practice of critical analysis of all media.

5.) Provide information representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups and their contributions to our heritage and its role in the modern world.

6.) Place principle above personal opinion and reason above prejudice in order to assure a high quality, comprehensive collection.

Adopted: 8/25/75
Revised: 6/28/93

References: Connecticut General Statutes 10-221 et seq., 10-228, 10-229

Administrative Guidelines

Criteria For Selection of Instructional Materials:

"Instructional Materials" are those textbooks, trade books (paperback books), and supplementary text materials, required by the teacher for use by the student in order to meet the instructional objectives of the course or unit of study.

Instructional materials recommended to the Board of Education for adoption are selected by Subject Area Curriculum Committees, based on the criteria below:

• Correlation with the Manchester Public Schools' curriculum described in the individual subject area or course curricula
• Significant value for instructional use (as analyzed through a criteria grid developed for the subject area's essential curriculum)
• The level of difficulty of language and of ideas for students who will use the material
• Stimulation of student thinking, reasoning, factual knowledge, literary appreciation, and active participation in dialogue related to the instruction
• Inclusion of most recent thinking, trends, and issues in the subject area
• Integration of technology and/or digitally generated information/processes
• Support for research-based instructional and assessment strategies to develop student skills and monitor student achievement
• Adaptability to students' individual needs
• Supports aesthetic values, ethical standards, and character development
• Balanced and accurate presentations in text and illustrations
• Reflection of the pluralistic, multi-ethnic nature of our society, past and present
• Sustained skill, topic, and concept development throughout grade/course and transition (where appropriate) to next grade/course in sequence
• Format and price

Procedures for Selection of Instructional Materials
for Recommendation to the Board of Education:

All curricula are developed under the auspices of a Subject Area Curriculum Committee (SACC), whose membership consists of teachers, administrators, and up to 2 committed parents/community members with a substantial interest in the subject area. All curriculum committees will follow the procedures described below to plan, analyze, and evaluate instructional materials for recommendation to the Board of Education for adoption:

• Develop a criteria grid for selection of instructional materials, specific to the curriculum
• Initially screen textbooks for correlation with the curriculum, using the criteria grid
• Pilot materials, when possible
• Department head/curriculum chairperson and administrator affiliated with the curriculum committee completes all forms and sends them to the Office of Curriculum and Instruction, along with a compilation of the criteria grid and a summary of the pilot experience. Samples of the instructional materials must be sent to the Office of Curriculum and Instruction for presentation to the Board of Education. (See attached samples of criteria grids and pilot summaries.)
• The Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction sends titles, criteria, samples of the recommended instructional materials and any other pertinent information to the Superintendent of Schools and the Board of Education Subcommittee for Curriculum and Instruction for review and then to the Board of Education for adoption.
• Once the Board of Education has adopted the recommended instructional materials, those materials will be added to the list of Board approved instructional materials. Each school year, the list of instructional materials to be used in a specific course will be mailed to parents/guardians prior to the start of the school year.

Resource Center/Library/Media Center Selections Procedure:

Librarians, media specialists, and/or teachers shall be responsible for coordinating and selecting all materials for the Resource Center/Library/Media Center with purchase authorization made by the building principal.

Challenged Instructional Materials

Objections to instructional material that had been previously adopted by the Board of Education and requests for alternative materials may be made by a parent/guardian whose child is a student in a class where the instructional material to be challenged is being taught.

A complaint may be made only against non-textbook literature-based fictional/non-fictional instructional material listed in the "Essential Reading" section of the instructional materials used in a course. "Essential Reading" is required of all students enrolled in a course. The procedures for processing the complaint are as follows:

1. Every reasonable effort will be made to resolve oral complaints informally through discussion with the parent/guardian at the classroom/library level.

2. If unsatisfied, the parent/guardian shall be informed of his/her right to appeal to the principal, who will investigate and meet with the parent/guardian to resolve the matter.

If the parent/guardian is still unsatisfied with the decision made at the school level, the principal will invite him/her to submit a formal complaint which must be completed and sent in writing within five (5) school days to the Office of Curriculum and Instruction on the prescribed form (Parent/Guardian's Request for Reconsideration of Instructional Materials).

The Office of Curriculum and Instruction shall conduct and complete an investigation within 30 calendar days of all materials for which a "Request for Reconsideration" form has been received. The following procedures shall be followed:

1. Original instructional material adoption information will be reviewed.
2. The materials under question will be read and re-examined in consultation with appropriate staff.
3. Both strengths and weaknesses will be considered and opinions will be based on the materials as a whole and not on passages pulled out of context.
4. A report will be prepared which summarizes findings and makes
recommendations to the Superintendent of Schools.
5. The Superintendent will make the final decision as to the use of the
material in question. The Superintendent's decision will be
forwarded to the principal and the complainant.

Revised: October 12, 1994
Revised: September 25, 2000

References: Connecticut General Statutes 10-221 et seq., 10-228, 10-229