HB336 Alabama 2021 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Danny GarrettRepresentative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2021

Title

State Textbook Committee, publishers permitted to provide standards correlation evidence to State Dept. of Education, State Superintendent of Education to convene other instructional materials review committees to review and rate materials and to establish evaluation criteria, Secs. 16-36-60, 16-36-60.1, 16-36-65 am'd.

Summary

HB336 would require publishers to show how textbooks align with state standards and would allow the State Superintendent to create additional committees to review and rate instructional materials beyond textbooks.

What This Bill Does

Publishers must provide evidence of how their textbooks correlate to state standards using forms provided by the State Department of Education. The State Superintendent of Education would be empowered to convene other instructional materials review committees to review and rate non-textbook instructional materials and to establish evaluation criteria for those reviews. The bill adds a new section that allows these committees to publish guidelines, rate various materials, publish statewide lists of vetted materials, and potentially use master service agreements for procurement, subject to appropriations. Committee members’ per diem and travel expenses for these new review activities would be paid only as appropriations allow, and the process would be separate from the existing State Textbook Committee.

Who It Affects

• Publishers of textbooks and instructional materials — must submit correlation evidence showing alignment with standards.
• State Department of Education and State Superintendent of Education — responsible for providing correlation forms, forming and guiding new instructional materials review committees, and publishing guidelines and vetted materials.
• School districts, teachers, and students — potential access to higher-quality, standards-aligned instructional materials and streamlined procurement through master service agreements.
• Publishers and educators involved with non-textbook instructional materials — new opportunities to have materials reviewed and rated for quality and alignment.

Key Provisions

• Publishers must provide evidence of standards correlation on Department of Education correlation forms, detailing how and where standards are addressed in textbooks.
• The State Superintendent of Education may convene other instructional materials review committees to review and rate non-textbook instructional materials and establish evaluation criteria for those reviews.
• A new Section 16-36-73 authorizes these committees to publish guidelines, review materials, and publish statewide lists of vetted materials; approved materials may qualify for statewide master service agreements to streamline procurement.
• Guidelines and review processes for these other instructional materials shall be separate from the existing State Textbook Committee process.
• Per diem and travel expenses for members of the new instructional materials review committees may be paid, subject to appropriations.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 22, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

State Textbook Committee