To help fulfill the educational goals and objectives of the school district, the Wilkes County Board of Education strives to provide instructional materials that will enrich and support the curriculum and enhance student learning. Instructional materials also should be representative of the rich diversity of our nation and the world and appropriate for the maturity levels and abilities of the students.
Instructional materials constitute all materials, whether print, non-print, digital, or any combination thereof, used in the instructional program. For purposes of this policy, instructional materials will be divided into two categories: textbooks and supplementary materials.
A. Selection of Textbooks
Textbooks are systematically organized materials comprehensive enough to cover the primary objectives outlined in the current statewide instructional standards for a grade or course. Formats for textbooks may be print, non-print or digital media, including hardbound books, softbound books, activity-oriented programs, classroom kits, and technology-based programs or materials that require the use of electronic equipment to be used in the learning process. Technology-based programs may include subscription or web-based materials.
Textbooks shall be selected by a district-level committee with input from administrators, instructional specialists, and teachers.
B. Selection of Supplementary Materials
Supplementary materials are instructional and learning resources that are selected to complement, enrich or extend the curriculum. These resources include specialized materials selected to meet diverse needs or rapidly changing circumstances, library materials, digital resources, the school system’s media collection, classroom collections, and teacher-selected resources for individual classes.
- Objectives for Selection of Supplementary Materials
The procurement of materials must be accomplished in accordance with law; board educational goals; board purchasing and accounting policies; and established selection guidelines. The objectives for the selection of supplementary materials are as follows:
- to provide a wide range of materials that will enrich and support the curriculum, taking into consideration the individual needs and varied interests, abilities, socio-economic backgrounds, learning styles and developmental levels of the students served;
- to provide materials that will stimulate growth in factual knowledge, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, and ethical standards;
- to provide a background of information that will enable students to comprehend their role as citizens in society and to make intelligent judgments in their daily lives;
- Process and Criteria for Selecting Supplementary Materials
The responsibility for the selection of supplementary materials is delegated to the professional staff under the direction of the superintendent and will be made primarily at the school level with the involvement of a school advisory committee. The committee shall be appointed by the principal and will include teachers and instructional support personnel representing various subject areas and grade levels and, if on-staff in the school, the library media coordinator.
The selection process used by the committee will include: (1) an evaluation of the existing collection; (2) an assessment of the available resource and curriculum needs of the school; and (3) consideration of individual teaching and learning styles. In coordinating the selection of resources, the committee should use reputable, unbiased selection tools prepared by professional educators and when possible should arrange for firsthand examination of resources to be purchased. When examining proposed materials, the committee should consider the following factors:
- the material’s overall purpose, educational significance, and direct relationship to instructional objectives and the curriculum and to the interests of the students;
- the material’s reliability, including the extent to which it is accurate, authentic, authoritative, up-to-date, unbiased, comprehensive, and well-balanced;
- the material’s technical quality, including the extent to which technical components are relevant to content and consistent with state-of-the-art capabilities;
- the material’s artistic, literary, and physical quality and format, including its durability, manageability, clarity, appropriateness, skillfulness, organization, and attractiveness;
- the possible uses of the material, including suitability for individual, small group, large group, introduction, in-depth study, remediation, and/or enrichment;
- the reputation and significance of the material’s author, producer, and publisher; and
- the price of the material weighed against its value and/or the need for it.
- Materials Brought in by Teachers
Principals shall establish rules concerning what materials may be brought in by teachers without review. Principals are encouraged to involve teachers in establishing these rules.
C. Removal of Outdated Supplementary Materials
To ensure that the supplementary media collection remains relevant, the media and technology professionals, assisted by the school advisory committee, will review materials routinely to determine if any material is obsolete, outdated, or irrelevant. The school staff should remove materials no longer appropriate and replace lost, damaged, and worn materials still of educational value. Requests by parents to remove supplementary media materials due to an objection to the materials will be reviewed pursuant to policy 3210, Parental Inspection of and Objection to Instructional Materials.
D. Acceptance of Gift Materials
Wilkes County Schools appreciates the donation of books and supplementary materials to our schools. In order to ensure donated books and supplementary materials are age and content-appropriate, they must be submitted for review. Individuals or groups wishing to donate books or supplementary materials to a specific school must submit the items for review to the principal. Books or supplementary materials donated to multiple schools must be submitted to the superintendent or his/her designee for review before being delivered to the schools.
E. Challenges to Textbooks and Other Instructional Materials
Challenges to materials will be addressed pursuant to policy 3210, Parental Inspection of and Objection to Instructional Materials.
Legal References: U.S. Const. amend. I; N.C. Const. art. I, § 14; G.S. 115C art. 8 pt. 1; G.S. 115C-45, -47, -98, 101; Board of Education v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982); State Board of Education Policy TEXT-000
Cross References: Goals and Objectives of the Educational Program (policy 3000), School Improvement Plan (policy 3430), Parental Inspection of and Objection to Instructional Materials (policy 3210), Gifts and Bequests (policy 8220)
Adopted: November 7, 2005
Revised: July 3, 2006, January 10, 2022