Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0520-05-01-.10

Current through October 22, 2024

Section 0520-05-01-.10 - STATE ADVISORY PANELS

(1) Appointment of State Advisory Panels

The Chair of the Commission may recruit and appoint members to an advisory panel of expert teachers and other experts. The Chair shall present the list of members of the advisory panel to the Commission at the next regular meeting.

The department shall post the names of the reviewers, their positions, employers and the panels on which they serve on the department's web site.

(2) Appointment of State Advisory Panels

At least one (1) teacher shall be appointed to each advisory panel. Teachers appointed to the advisory panels shall possess a license to teach with an endorsement in the subject area or grade level for which they shall review textbooks or instructional materials.

Experts, who are not public school teachers, may include college professors and credentialed subject matter specialists.

All members of advisory panels shall have a specific knowledge of and expertise in the content of the subject matter contained in the textbooks or instructional materials they review.

(3) Training for Advisory Panel Members

The Department of Education shall assist the Commission by providing mandatory training to members of advisory panels on the review process and the completion of their assigned tasks. The mandatory training shall include, at a minimum, the components outlined in T.C.A. § 49-6-2201(n)(2).

(4) Review Rubric for Advisory Panel Members

The Tennessee Department of Education may develop a review instrument/ rubric to be used by state advisory panels to review textbook and instructional materials submitted for adoption. The review instrument shall include an examination as to whether the textbooks or instructional materials:

(a) Conform to the standards for their subject areas or grade levels;

(b) Are free of any clear, substantive, factual or grammatical errors;

(c) Comply with and reflect the values expressed in § 49-6-1028(b), if the textbook or instructional materials are being considered for adoption as a textbook or instructional materials for education of students in general studies and specifically in United States history and this nation's republican form of government; and

(d) Nothing in this part shall prohibit the use of or apply to supplemental instructional materials.

The Textbook Commission shall approve any review instrument / rubric used by state advisory panels.

(5) Panel Review Process

The department shall develop a process for state advisory panels to review textbooks and instructional materials. The process shall align with the review timeline outlined in the textbook adoption schedule approved by the Commission.

Each textbook or any instructional materials proposed for approval shall be reviewed by multiple members of the panel.

(6) Panel Recommendations to the Commission

The advisory panelists shall individually make their recommendations to the Commission. The reviews of the members of an advisory panel shall be posted on the department's web site without any information that would identify the reviewers.

Before issuing a recommendation on a textbook or on instructional materials, each advisory panelist shall review the public comments on the textbook or instructional materials posted on department's web site, pursuant to § 49-6-2203(d)(4), that are received by the date set by the Commission. Each advisory panelist shall consider the public comments in making the panelist's recommendation.

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0520-05-01-.10

(For history prior to June 1992, see 0520 official history.) Repeal filed April 27, 1992; effective June 29, 1992. Amendments and new rules filed February 12, 2016; effective 5/12/2016.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 49-6-2201(n) and 49-6-2203.