W. Va. Code R. § 126-35-8

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 126-35-8 - Responsibilities of Vendors of Print and Digital Instructional Resources

8.1. A vendor must complete Vendor Registration after September 1^st and no later than January 1^st to ensure the vendor appears on the West Virginia List of Registered Vendors of Instructional Resources. Registration information is located on the WVDE Instructional Resources website.

8.1.a. Registration Forms. All registrations must be submitted electronically on the official WVDE registration site. Vendors must complete all sections of the registration form. Upon completing an online registration submission, a signature sheet including the vendor's authorized signature must be mailed to the WVDE in accordance with the directions on the form. The registration templates and examples are available on the WVDE Instructional Resources website. Alternatively, vendors may request that the link to the online registration template be sent to them via email.

8.2. Instructional resources, including print materials, electronic resources and systems, kit-based instructional resources, or any combination submitted by a vendor and placed on the West Virginia List of Registered Vendors of Instructional Resources must substantially cover the required content and skills for the subject as approved by the WVBE as a primary source of instruction. Adopted resources must be current and information presented accurately; therefore, resources may be updated, substituted, or otherwise changed and improved to ensure they are current and accurate. Copyright dates of instructional resources being registered must not be more than three years prior to the beginning date of the adoption period.

8.2.a. Criteria. Non-negotiable, general, and specific evaluation criteria for the current adoption program(s) shall be furnished by the WVBE to each registrant electronically. Instructional resources must meet 100 percent of the non-negotiable criteria, 80 percent of the general criteria, and 80 percent of the specific criteria for a county board to adopt the resource as the primary instructional resource. Vendors are required to provide criteria correlation documents in paper and electronic format for print and non-print including specific locations for each criterion to the WVDE and county boards by January 1 of the adoption year, using the WVDE-provided forms. If the resources do not address the outlined criteria, this fact must be noted on the form as "No." These documents shall be used to evaluate instructional resources that will be considered by county boards' local review committees in their selection process.

8.3. The WVDE and county boards may request samples and prices on items deemed appropriate to teach the curriculum. These items must be usable in the public schools as the primary source to deliver the current standards that have been further refined into generic and specific criteria for the respective subject.

8.4. Teacher Edition. Vendors are required to provide teacher's editions/manuals which contain the teacher's edition/manual/curriculum, etc., for counties adopting and purchasing instructional resources at the ratio of one per classroom at the early and middle childhood levels and one per teacher for every 25 student editions purchased at the adolescent level. Counties, schools, and teachers requesting teacher editions in excess of this requirement should expect to pay the current registration price. Electronic teacher editions may be supplied in lieu of print versions when digital or online versions of learning technologies or other digital or online instructional resources are adopted.

8.4.a. Teacher editions/manuals and pricing must be included in the registration form to allow counties to purchase additional copies. The vendor grants each school duplication rights for classroom use only within the limitation(s) of current copyright laws.

8.4.b. Assessments and other ancillary materials and pricing must be included in the registration form. The vendor grants each school duplication rights for classroom use only within the limitation(s) of current copyright laws.

8.5. Vendors shall provide Lexile Measures for student editions of all resources in all content areas approved for use as primary instructional resources. Vendors shall provide Quantile Measures for all student editions approved as primary instructional resources for mathematics and, when applicable, for all student editions approved as primary instructional resources for science courses by February 1 of the adoption year from the date of publication of the West Virginia List of Registered Vendors of Instructional Resources. Vendors shall bear the cost of obtaining Lexile and Quantile Measures.

8.6. Permission Statements. Successful vendors of student print resources will be required to file permission statements with the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center (NIMAC) located at the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky within 30 days of the closing of registration with WVBE. The permission statement shall provide for translating adopted resources into Braille, Large Type Editions, audio-recordings, etc., to enable students with disabilities to have usable instructional resources on the opening day of school. The files shall be provided in the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) format.

8.6.a. Accessibility Statements. Successful vendors of student non-print materials shall meet student accessibility guidelines. All content must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0.

8.6.a.1. The county board will ensure any OER instructional resources adopted shall meet the accessibility guidelines found in this section.

8.6.b. Inter-Ethnic Statements. Vendors of instructional resources must accurately portray minority and ethnic group contributions to American growth and culture. These resources must depict and illustrate the intercultural character of America's pluralistic society.

8.7. Rejection of Registrations and/or Free Items. The State Superintendent reserves the right to accept and reject any and all registrations or any part of a registration or free item.

8.8. Shipment. County boards and schools have the option to purchase instructional resources directly from a vendor and have the resources shipped directly to the county boards, school(s), or dealer appointed by the county board, or purchase through a depository at the registration price.

8.8.a. Shipment to a county board, school(s), or dealer shall require the vendor to bear the costs of shipping, mailing, or transporting, including any other benefits provided to any county or school in West Virginia or in another state.

8.8.b. Vendors can make their product(s) available for distribution through any WVBE-approved depository(ies) that is (are) determined to be qualified to warehouse, manage, and distribute such product(s). Shipping costs and/or transportation to county boards/schools/dealers shall be provided without charge and borne by agreement between the vendor and state-approved depository(ies).

8.9. Registration. If a county board selects a non-registered vendor, the vendor must contact WVDE to register prior to county adoption.

W. Va. Code R. § 126-35-8