Guidance for Selecting or Curating High-Quality Instruction…

In addition to the rating scale, a rubric can include text boxes for teacher notes and/or supporting evidence. Asking reviewers to provide text-based examples to support each criteria rating helps ensure that the materials are reviewed thoroughly and provides text-based evidence that can be used to build support for the district’s adoption decisions. Once a draft of the rubric/checklist is complete, it would be prudent to run it by a few of the content-area teachers to make sure that it is a manageable length and easy to understand.

Provide Training for the Selection Committee

Before or during the first selection committee meeting, committee members should be informed about the logistics of the review process, including the beginning and end dates of the review period, the titles that will be reviewed, and how to submit completed rubrics. The rules and policies of the review process must also be clearly explained. Committee members must also receive training on how to use the rubric in order to ensure that sub-criteria are interpreted and applied consistently. Optimally, before the reviews begin, district curriculum staff would create an evidence guide with text-based examples of the difference performance levels for each criterion and key sub-criteria. If that is not possible, the selection committee should discuss performance- level examples before beginning the reviews. Practice Tip

Given the importance of selecting standards-aligned materials, consider having the district curriculum team or lead teachers for the content area review the alignment of the materials the selection committee will review before the committee members begin their reviews.

For example, one of the criteria in any instructional materials rubric should be alignment to state standards. Selection committee members should receive training on or at least discuss what alignment means