August 26, 2005

M E M O R A N D U M

FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

John L.Winn

Commissioner of Education

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

DONNA G. CALLAWAY

INDA K. TAYLOR

Name:

Phone:

Suncom:

K-12:2005-115

M E M O R A N D U M

TO:

District School Superintendents

FROM:

John L. Winn

SUBJECT:

Nominations for Appointments to State Instructional Materials Committees

for the 2006-2007 Adoption Year

The Department of Education is planning for the 2006

pleased to receive nominations of persons to serve on the state committees. Our review process will

ensure that the highest quality instructional materials are available for our students and teachers and are

aligned with Florida’s Sunshine State Standards and with state accountability measurements.

We will be appointing state instructional materials committees for the following categories:

Computer Education/Business Technology Education 6-12

Family & Consumer Science Education 6-12 (including ESE)

World (Foreign) Language Education 6-8

World (Foreign) Education 9-12

Health Sciences Education 6-12

Health Education K-5

Health Education/Physical Education 6-12 (including ESE)

Industrial Education 9-12

Technology Education 6-12

Visual Arts Education K-12

325 W. GAINES STREET • SUITE 1514 • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org

District School Superintendents

August 26, 2005

Page Two

Each state committee is composed of at least ten members: a minimum of five classroom teachers,

two supervisors of teachers, two lay citizens, and one school board member. Classroom teachers

must be certified in an area directly related to the academic area being considered for adoption. Lay

citizens must be persons who are not professionally connected with education. At no time may a

school district have more than one representative on the same committee. All committee

appointments are for eighteen months.

In the selection of persons for appointment to the committees, priority is given to recommendations

received from school districts, professional associations, and civic organizations expressing an

interest in education. Every effort is made to have wide geographical representation on each

committee and to include members from large, medium, and small districts. In addition, the

membership of each committee must reflect the broad ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and cultural

diversity of the state.

Please complete the enclosed

State Instructional Materials Committee Member Nomination Form

(Part I)

for each person you wish to nominate. Share the enclosed document entitled

Information for

Prospective Members of State Instructional Materials Committees

with the nominee and ask him/her

to complete the

State Instructional Materials Committee Member Nomination Form (Part II).

Additional forms can be downloaded at http://www.firn.edu/doe/instmat/.

Please return the nomination form (Parts I & II) by December 16, 2005, to:

Patty Ceci

Office of Instructional Materials

Florida Department of Education

325 West Gaines Street, Suite 444

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0400

FAX: 850.245.0820

Your continuous support and assistance in the evaluation and selection of instructional materials are

appreciated and vital to the success of the program.

NOTE:

Please make sure that persons who are copied on this memorandum are signed-up to receive

correspondence from the Department’s paperless communication site since hard copies are not being

sent.

The site address is http://www.firn.edu/doe/menu/communications.htm. If they are not currently

signed-up, please provide them with a copy of this memorandum.

JW:pc

Enclosures

cc: Assistant Superintendents for Instruction

District Instructional Materials Administrators

District Curriculum Coordinators

District School Board Chairpersons

Professional Associations

INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS OF

STATE INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS COMMITTEES

2006-2007 ADOPTION

You are being nominated to serve on a 2006-2007 state instructional materials adoption

committee. From the nominated individuals, the Florida Commissioner of Education will

select a minimum of ten members who represent the demographic and cultural diversity of

the state to review and recommend instructional materials in a specific subject area. Please

review the information that follows and consider the tasks and time involved. If you would

like to be considered for an appointment, complete

Part II, State Instructional Materials

Committee Member Nomination Form

and return it to the appropriate address.

Part I is

completed by the nominating individual, agency or association.

Composition of Committees and Term of Appointment

The committee is comprised of 10 or more members. At least 50 percent of the members

are required to be classroom teachers who are certified in an area directly related to the

academic area or level being considered for adoption. The remainder is the committee is

comprised as follows: two lay citizens, not professionally connected with education, one

district school board member, and two supervisors of teachers. The term of appointment is

eighteen months.

Requirements for Membership

Affidavit: Each member must sign an affidavit to the effect that he/she will faithfully

discharge the duties imposed as a committee member and that he/she has no interest with

any publishing company. A common question regarding the affidavit is: “I worked last

summer as a reviewer for a publishing company. Does that disqualify me from serving on

the committee?” The answer is “yes.” Any person who has completed work and received

compensation from any publishing company within the past five years is ineligible to serve.

If you have any questions or concerns about signing the affidavit, you may call the Florida

Department of Education, Office of Instructional Materials, at (850) 245-0425.

Certification: Classroom teachers must be certified in the area directly related to the

academic area and level being considered for adoption.

Training: All persons serving on instructional materials committees must complete the

Department of Education training program prior to reviewing and evaluating instructional

materials.

Duties and Responsibilities of State Committees

Please consider the following in making your decision to serve on this committee. The

responsibilities include:

(1) Attending a two-day training and organizational meeting, traditionally the

second week in June.

(2) Receiving and evaluating samples of the instructional materials submitted by

publishers according to established procedures provided in the training

program.

(3) Attending a two-to-four-day committee meeting in September, October or

November to finalize evaluations and to recommend materials for adoption.

Expenses for Attending Meetings

Committee members will be reimbursed for travel and hotel expenses and will receive

$21.00 per day, on a prorated basis, for meals. Travel and expense forms will be completed

at each meeting for reimbursement of expenses paid out of pocket by members. A check is

issued and mailed to the members usually within two to four weeks following the meeting.

Substitute teacher costs will be reimbursed to district school boards for all workdays that a

teacher is absent attending meetings of the state committee. After each meeting, a

reimbursement claim form will be prepared for each teacher member and sent to the district

superintendent’s office for completion.

Additional Information

The task of evaluating instructional materials for state adoption requires a good deal

of time and effort; however, it is a task that is very important and worthwhile.

Persons who serve on state instructional materials committees contribute

significantly to the success of education in Florida schools.

If this is an area in which you would like to serve, please complete

Part II

2006-2007 State

Instructional

Materials Committee Member Nomination Form

and return it to Patty Ceci,

Office of Instructional Materials, Florida Department of Education, 325 West Gaines, Suite

444, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400. Fax: (850) 245-0803.

If you have questions concerning committee membership, please contact Patty Ceci,

Florida Department of Education, Office of Instructional Materials. The telephone

number is (800) 307-6928.