Sacramento - Legislation by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach) to require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to implement a review process for basic instructional materials for grades 9 through 12 was approved on the Assembly Floor today. The bill, AB 564, would help ensure the content accuracy and alignment of standards to instructional materials for California's high school students.

Stated Karnette, "This is an important and needed service for high schools and districts. Many districts simply do not have the resources to review instructional materials to be sure they are aligned to state standards. If enacted, Assembly Bill 564 will assist educators and administrators in the selection of their instructional materials." Superintendent O'Connell stated in response to the bill moving off of the Assembly Floor "California has world class academic standards, but not all high school students have access to instructional materials that reflect those high standards. I appreciate Assemblymember Karnette's leadership in carrying this bill which will offer support to our high schools, so that they can clearly discern how closely aligned textbooks and other instructional materials are to our standards. This is a key step in improving the quality of high school for all California students."

Currently, the State Board of Education is required to adopt instructional materials for use in grades K-8, as well as academic content standards in core courses. There is no formal review process for instructional materials for grades 9 through 12 conducted by the Board of Education or the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Districts are left on their own to adopt incredibly large and varied numbers of high school materials.

Recent findings from an Education Trust study show that the solid gains our students achieve during K-8 tend to erode when these students enter high school. In addition, elementary principals and district administrators attribute much of their recent academic progress to structured, focused standards aligned materials that provide the appropriate amount of support for both the novice and experienced teacher.

"By offering a state-level standards review process for high school instructional materials, the Superintendent will offer a courtesy to districts that may or may not choose to utilize. For those districts that do not want to use precious staff resources to review instructional materials for content standards and alignment, they can simply take advantage of the list provided by the Superintendent," said Karnette.