In a nearly unanimous vote, the West Virginia House of Delegates passed Monday a state Department of Education-requested bill that proponents say would give counties more flexibility in selecting print and electronic textbooks and other instructional materials.
House Bill 4445 - which now heads to the Senate after only Delegate Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha, voted against it, saying he didn't want to "delegate away" the authority of Legislature and state Board of Education - would move away from the state-approved "multiple list" of instructional materials that local school boards currently are limited to choosing their primary resources from.
Instead, the state school board would set criteria for the materials, and counties would receive and choose from textbook sellers' bids within those state-set parameters.
The bill doesn't specifically state how closely the instructional materials counties adopt under the new legislation would have to align to state education standards. When asked what he'd recommend the state school board establish as criteria for the alignment between standards and textbooks, state schools Superintendent Michael Martirano said he couldn't say for sure.
"I can't comment on any of it right now because I don't have all the information," Martirano told a reporter Friday.
Currently, according to state education department spokeswoman Kristin Anderson, the department convenes a group of educators who set required criteria for instructional materials, the textbook sellers submit bids, a second group of educators reviews the bids to ensure they meet the criteria and the state school board then approves the list.
If HB 4445 becomes law, counties would have more freedom, but textbook sellers would be required to file a statement of assurances with the state schools superintendent, including that the "list wholesale price" to West Virginia counties will be no more than the lowest list wholesale price available to school districts in other states. The new process would be effective starting in the 2017-18 school year.
The bill says the instructional materials counties adopt must "substantially cover the required content and skills for the subject as approved by the state board."
When asked about whether that means textbooks would still have to meet the state's standards - particularly in the sometimes politically controversial subjects of science, for which the state now only gives year-end standardized tests in three grades, and social studies, for which the state has eliminated all year-end standardized exams - Anderson wrote in an email that current criteria has "traditionally been based on content standards and objectives, learning skills and technology tools."
The requirements have included that textbooks meet 100 percent of "non-negotiable evaluation criteria," like science texts being free of political bias. Instructional materials must also meet 80 percent of general and specific criteria, the latter consisting of the actual content standards.
Dave Mohr, a committee senior policy analyst, told House Education Committee members last week that counties currently frequently request waivers of rules regarding instructional material adoptions. He said the bill gives counties more flexibility in at a time when electronic materials are being updated more quickly.
Anderson said the recommendation for giving counties' more textbook selection flexibility came last year's Academic Spotlight review of the state's math and English language arts standards.
"The Academic Spotlight process provided a context for the development of revised ELA (English/language arts) and mathematics standards to remove complexity in wording and increase autonomy for teachers," stated the Academic Spotlight report, compiled by West Virginia University. "However, an overarching theme that arose as a result of the town hall meetings, online comments, and teacher voice from the field, has indicated that a revision of standards is but one method to ensure continuous quality improvement in the classroom. ... Teachers know best what works in the classroom and need to devise their own lesson plans and curriculum in order to tailor instruction to individual needs."
A.J. Rogers, executive director of the West Virginia Association of School Administrators, polled his group's members on the bill, and said the dozen or so county superintendents who responded all said they liked it. Missy Ruddle, Kanawha County Schools' assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said the flexibility would be welcome.
She said textbook company consolidations had reduced choice, and during English textbook adoptions last school year for the middle and high school levels, the state multiple list only had two options. She also noted there are good free resources available online, including some on iTunes U.
"In their credit, [teachers] have done research and they're out looking for resources that really meet the standards," Ruddle said.
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.