Textbook Review & Approval

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) administers the textbook review process for the Board of Education and makes recommendations on approval to the board.

Statewide review committees made up of teachers, division-level content specialists, and subject matter experts compare submitted materials with relevant content in the Standards of Learning (SOL) and report on the correlation between reviewed items and the SOL.

The textbook review process places primary responsibility on publishers to ensure the accuracy of their textbooks. Publishers must certify that textbooks submitted for approval have been thoroughly examined and reviewed by qualified content experts for factual accuracy.

The findings of the review committees coupled with the publishers’ certification and agreement forms form the basis of VDOE's recommendations to the Board on the approval of textbooks.

Review Process

• Virginia’s Textbook Review Process (PDF) – complete information and forms. Forms are also available as separate documents below:
  • Publishers’ Submission Forms  (Word) – Includes Textbook Publisher's Certification, Textbook Publisher's Agreement, Author(s)/Editor(s) and Content Review Expert Information forms.
  • Evaluation Criteria Used by Textbook Review Committee (PDF)
• Location of public review sites – The textbooks and instructional materials currently under review are available for public inspection and comment at various locations in the state.

Publisher Certifications & Corrective Action Plans

On March 24, 2011, the Virginia Board of Education approved Virginia’s revised textbook approval process. The proposed process places primary responsibility on publishers to ensure the accuracy of their textbooks.

• Publishers must certify that textbooks submitted for approval have been thoroughly examined and reviewed by qualified content experts for factual accuracy and must list all authors/editors and their credentials.
• Publishers must list the professional credentials for at least three content review experts who have thoroughly examined each textbook for content accuracy.
• Publishers must certify that each textbook has been thoroughly examined and reviewed by qualified editors for typographical errors and errors in grammar, written expression, spelling, formatting and other substantive elements that may affect student learning.
• Publishers must sign an agreement that if factual or editing errors are identified in a publisher’s textbook, the publisher must submit a corrective action plan to VDOE for review and approval by the Board of Education. All corrective action plans must be approved by the Board of Education, or the Board may delegate the approval of action plans to the superintendent of public instruction.
• Publishers must execute corrective action plans at their own expense.

Review Process Schedule

Local Textbook Adoption

The Code of Virginia permits local school boards to use textbooks not approved by the Virginia Board of Education. If a local school board opts to use a textbook that has not been approved by the Board of Education, a local textbook review process should be conducted that includes components similar to the state level review.

Such components include a correlation with the Standards of Learning for the particular subject area and a review of strengths and weaknesses in instructional planning and support.  Additionally, the publisher of the textbook should certify the accuracy of the content of the textbook and sign an agreement to correct all factual and editing errors found in a textbook, at its expense.  Finally, the publisher should certify that the books meet other requirements of the Code of Virginia related to textbooks.

• Guidelines for Local Textbook Approval (PDF) – approved September 22, 2011