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Instructional Materials FAQ

Instructional Materials Funding and Williams Case Frequently Asked Questions and Answers.

California law and regulations

Content Standards and Curriculum Frameworks

  1. What are “content standards”?
  2. What are “curriculum frameworks”?

Traditional and Electronic Materials

  1. What are "instructional materials?"
  2. What are "technology-based materials"?
  3. Senate Bill (SB) 820, 2019–20 modified the language in Education Code Section 60010’s definition of “technology-based materials” regarding when electronic equipment required by students to make use of such instructional materials (such as computers and devices that provide internet access) fall within the definition. What is the effect of the change?
  1. Is data privacy something a school district should consider when purchasing new instructional materials?
  2. What are “state-adopted” instructional materials?
  3. What is your policy on publishers updating their content to remain relevant?

Local Adoption of Instructional Materials

  1. Must LEAs use only state-adopted instructional materials?
  2. What is the schedule for California’s adoption of new instructional materials?
  3. When do the current state adoption lists for instructional materials expire? 
  4. Do LEAs have a requirement to provide students with state-adopted instructional materials within a certain period of time?
  5. Where can one view a listing of all state-adopted instructional materials?
  6. Will the instructional materials that publishers send to the Learning Resource Display Centers (LRDCs) stay at those locations for the life of the adoption?
  7. Will the CDE create a toolkit for districts to use when considering materials for adoption?
  8. What role does a local board have in selecting instructional materials for a district?
  9. Can parents, guardians and or members of the community have any input on a district’s selection of instructional materials?
  10. Can instruction in and of itself be a valid substitution for instructional materials?
  11. Can an LEA develop, or otherwise obtain, instructional materials throughout the year during which they are being utilized?

Instructional Materials Funding/LCFF

  1. What fund sources may LEAs use to purchase instructional materials?
  2. Are there CDE guidelines on the use of LCFF?
  3. Does state law regulate the cost of instructional materials in California?

Initial Receipt and Eventual Disposal of Instructional Materials

  1. Where can an LEA purchase state-adopted instructional materials?
  2. May publishers offer instructional materials to LEAs for free?
  3. Is there a penalty against publishers should their delivery of materials be late?
  4. What should an LEA do with surplus or obsolete instructional materials?

Sufficiency of Instructional Materials

  1. Do the requirements regarding instructional materials sufficiency continue to exist?
  2. What does "sufficiency of instructional materials" mean?
  3. Do Web-based or electronic textbooks count as instructional materials?
  4. Schools believed that the state-adopted kindergarten through grade six (K-6) reading/language arts materials met the science and history-social science standards, so therefore they did not have to buy K-6 science or history-social science textbooks, is this true?
  5. May an LEA purchase the Big Books for use in class and a Student Practice Book for every student and be compliant with the requirements of the Williams settlement?
  6. If a local governing board approves a series of novels and a grammar book for high school English courses, is this acceptable?
  7. Must an LEA utilize all instructional material components of a core grade level academic program to meet the Williams settlement legislation requirement?
  8. What about special education students and English learners? Are there any exceptions?
  9. What materials should be provided to our English learners?
  10. If an LEA has insufficient instructional materials, what does it need to do?
  11. When does an LEA need to remedy any insufficiency in instructional materials?

Public Hearing for Sufficiency of Instructional Materials

  1. What are the hearing and resolution requirements regarding sufficiency of instructional materials?
  2. When does the public hearing need to be held?
  3. What documentation or evidence of adequate materials purchased do we need to present or have ready for monitoring?
  4. How should an LEA document that it has sufficient materials in grades K-8 as defined in the instructional materials survey form?
  5. What do we do if we did not hold the public hearing as required by EC Section 60119?
  6. What are "Standards Maps"?
Questions:   Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division | CFIRD@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0881
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, September 18, 2024
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