SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced that the State Board of Education has completed the 2008 adoption of kindergarten through grade eight Reading/Language Arts–English-Language Development (RLA/ELD) materials for California students. The list of adopted materials may be found at State Board Adopted Instructional Materials - Instructional Materials.

"With the State Board of Education's action, school districts can see which of these programs best meets the needs of their students," said O'Connell. "School districts have a wide selection of materials, and I am pleased these programs are designed specifically to help us close the achievement gap."

On November 5-6, 2008, the State Board conducted a public hearing on the list of instructional materials submitted for the RLA/ELD adoption by 15 publishers. Board members then voted to adopt 33 of 35 programs. The programs are designed to provide support for all California's students in kindergarten through grade eight, including those who excel, as well as those who are struggling.

Publishers submitted five types of programs: basic, basic with English-language development, basic in a primary language, intervention, and intervention for English learners. Three publishers submitted programs in Spanish for the basic primary language category designed to be used as primary language programs and provide materials to transition students to English. The intervention programs are designed to provide accelerated support for students reading two or more levels below grade level and for English learners. More than 200 classroom teachers, administrators, and experts in language arts instruction and English-Language Development reviewed the programs.

Many county offices of education will be sponsoring fairs over the course of the next few months so that districts may review the adopted materials. The adopted programs will remain on display at the Learning Resources Display Centers throughout the state. A list of these centers can be found on the California Department of Education Web site at Learning Resource Display Centers (LRDC) - Curriculum Frameworks & Instructional Materials.