No. 30781 (Amendment): R277-469. Instructional Materials Commission Operating Procedures

DAR File No.: 30781
Filed: 11/30/2007, 02:43
Received by: NL

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

This rule is amended to provide for 2007 legislation in H.B. 364 which prohibits a school district from purchasing certain instructional materials unless the materials have been evaluated by an independent party for alignment with the state core curriculum. (DAR NOTE: H.B. 364 (2007) is found at Chapter 349, Laws of Utah 2007, and was effective 04/30/2007.)

Summary of the rule or change:

The amended rule requires that the alignment evaluation be made available on a website at no charge; exempts charter schools from the evaluation requirement; provides direction to publishers who want to sell primary instructional materials to Utah schools on the correct procedures and forms required for consistent, independent party alignment to the core; and provides requirements for online posting to publisher websites.

State statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

Sections 53A-14-101 through 53A-14-106, and Subsection 53A-1-401(3)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

There are no anticipated cost or savings to the state budget. The only role that the Utah State Office of Education has is to prepare and participate in a request for proposal process for the selection of an independent party to align instructional materials with the core curriculum. There is no additional cost for that process.

local governments:

There are anticipated costs to school districts because of anticipated increases in the cost of textbooks as a result of significant costs to publishers to pay an independent party to align instructional materials with the state core curriculum. One publisher reported that the cost to the publishing company to align one textbook to the core curriculum will be $500. Textbook publishers report that this increase in their costs will be passed on to textbook purchasers (schools and school districts).

small businesses and persons other than businesses:

One textbook company reports that the alignment of one textbook to the Utah core curriculum will cost the company $500. The publisher also reports a speculative cost to the publishing company because the publishing company will not be able to afford all of the alignments (at the publisher's own cost) and will lose business because their textbooks are not aligned.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

A textbook publisher may be a corporation or an individual. It appears that there will be compliance costs for textbook publishers because of this rule. One company reports that the alignment of one textbook to the Utah core curriculum will cost the company $500. The publisher also reports a speculative cost to the publishing company because the publishing company will not be able to afford all of the alignments (at the publisher's own cost). One small and one large publishing company report that they may lose business because the publishers cannot afford to comply with the new law and this rule.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

I have reviewed this rule and I see that there will be fiscal impact on businesses. Primary instructional materials used in Utah public schools will now need to be evaluated by an independent party for alignment with the state core curriculum at a cost of approximately $500 per title, based on one publisher's estimates. Patti Harrington, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Division of Administrative Rules, or at:

Education
Administration
250 E 500 S
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84111-3272

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

Carol Lear at the above address, by phone at 801-538-7835, by FAX at 801-538-7768, or by Internet E-mail at [e-mail]

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

01/14/2008

This rule may become effective on:

01/21/2008

Authorized by:

Carol Lear, Director, School Law and Legislation

RULE TEXT

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-469. Instructional Materials Commission Operating Procedures.

R277-469-1. Definitions.

A. "Advanced placement materials" means materials used for the College Board Advanced Placement Program and classes. The program policies are determined by representatives of member institutions. Operational services are provided by the Educational Testing Service. The program provides practical descriptions of college-level courses to interested schools and student test results based on these courses to colleges of the student's choice. Participating colleges grant credit or appropriate placement, or both, to students whose test results meet standards prescribed by the college.

B. "Basic skills course" means a subject which requires mastery of specific functions to include reading, language arts, mathematics through geometry, science, in grades 4 through 12, and effectiveness of written expression.

C. "Board" means the Utah State Board of Education.

D. "Commission" means the Instructional Materials Commission.

E. "Instructional materials" means systematically arranged text materials, in harmony with the Core framework and required courses of study or U-PASS requirements or both, which may be used by students or teachers or both as principal sources of study and which cover any portion of the course. These materials:

(1) shall be designed for student use; and

(2) may be accompanied by or contain teaching guides and study helps; and

(3) shall be high quality, research-based and proven to be effective in supporting student learning.

F. "Independent party" means an entity that is not the Board, not the superintendent of public instruction or USOE staff, or an employee or board member of a school district, or the instructional materials creator or publisher, or anyone with a financial interest in the instructional materials, however minimal. [The USOE shall develop a list of approved independent parties to be recommended to the Board.]The USOE shall develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) to select one vendor to conduct the required alignments.

G. "Integrated instructional program" means any combination of textbooks, workbooks, software, videos, transparencies, or similar resources used for classroom instruction of students.

H. "International Baccalaureate" means college level work, limited in subject areas, which balances humanities and sciences in an interdisciplinary, global academic program that is both philosophical and practical. This multi-cultural experience emphasizes analytical and conceptual skills and aesthetic understanding for advanced students.

I. National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is a technical standard used by publishers to produce consistent and valid XML-based source files that may be used to develop multiple specialized formats, such as Braille or audio books, for students with print disabilities.

J. "Not recommended materials" means instructional materials which have been reviewed by the Commission but not recommended.

K. "Primary instructional material" means a comprehensive basal or Core textbook or integrated instructional program for which a publisher seeks a recommendation for Core subjects designated in R277-700-4, 5, and 6.

L. "Primary instructional materials provider" means a publisher or author and self-publisher who sells or provides instructional materials for use in Utah public schools.

M. "Public website" means a website provided by the publisher of instructional materials, free-of-charge, to teachers and the general public, to exhibit alignment mapping to the Core for Utah primary instructional materials.

N. "Recommended instructional materials (RIMs)" means the recommended instructional materials searchable database provided as a free service by the USOE for the posting of evaluations and alignments to the Core of instructional materials submitted by publishers and on the public website of the publisher, if applicable, for review by the Commission and approval of the Board.

O. "State Core Curriculum (Core)" means minimum academic standards provided through courses as established by the Board which shall be completed by all students K-12 as a requisite for graduation from Utah's secondary schools. The Core is provided in R277-700.

P. "USOE" means the Utah State Office of Education.

Q. "Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS)" means:

(1) systematic norm-referenced achievement testing of all students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 required by this part in all schools within each school district by means of tests designated by the Board;

(2) criterion-referenced achievement testing of students in all grade levels in basic skills courses, to include reading, language arts, mathematics through geometry, science, in grades 4 through 12, and effectiveness of written expression, as defined in Section 53A-1-602;

(3) a direct writing assessment in grades 6 and 9; and

(4) a tenth grade basic skills competency test as detailed in Section 53A-1-611.

 

R277-469-9. Agreements and Procedures for Publishing Companies.

A. Publishing companies desiring to sell primary instructional materials to Utah school districts and schools shall:

(1) contract with an independent party to evaluate and align the primary instructional material and related ancillary materials to the appropriate Utah Core for basic skills courses and in harmony with the following provisions:

(a) the publisher provides a detailed summary of the Core alignment mapping on a public website at no charge; and

(b) the publisher provides a hyperlink from the public website to the Commission for the purpose of tying the independent alignment mapping to the evaluation conducted by the Commission on the RIMs website.

(2) The requirements under R277-469-9-A(1) shall only be performed by entities consistent with Section 53A-14-107(2).

B. The USOE shall select one independent entity through an RFP process requiring competitive sealed proposals consistent with the law.

[B]C. Publishers seeking to sell recommended materials to Utah schools or school districts shall have adopted materials on deposit at an instructional materials depository in the business of selling instructional materials to schools or school districts in Utah.

[C]D. Depository agreements may be made between publishers of materials and one or more depository.

[D]E. The provisions of R277-469-9 shall not preclude publishers from selling instructional materials to schools or school districts in Utah directly or through means other than the designated depository.

[E]F. Recommended materials with revisions:

(1) If a revised edition of recommended materials retains the original title and authorship, the publisher may request its substitution for the edition currently recommended providing that:

(a) the original contract price and contract date do not change and the original contract price applies for the substituted materials;

(b) the revised edition is compatible with the earlier edition, permitting use of either or both in the same classroom;

(c) a sample copy of the revised edition is provided to the USOE Instructional Materials Specialist for examination purposes; and

(d) the publisher submits a revised electronic edition in NIMAS file format to the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) if the USOE approves the substitution request.

(2) If Subsection R277-469-8E is not satisfied, a new edition shall be submitted for recommendation as new materials.

(3) The Commission shall make the final determination about the substitution of a new edition for a previously recommended edition with assistance from the state subject area specialist.

[F]G. A publisher's contract price for materials recommended by the Commission shall apply for five years from the contract date.

 

KEY: instructional materials

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [August 7, 2007]2008

Notice of Continuation April 4, 2003

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: Art X, Sec 3; 53A-14-101 through 53A-14-106; 53A-1-401(3)